SOUTH BEND -- Indiana will soon have it's own Amber Alert system in place to send out warnings of child abductions, but officials are still working out how to avoid overusing the system.\nAbout 365 television and radio stations make up Indiana's Emergency Alert System, and child abductions will be reported from police departments directly through that network.\nThe state guidelines call for an alert to be issued only when a child is determined to be in imminent danger and enough descriptive information is available to help in locating the child.\nBroadcasters taking part in the program will deliver the information to viewers or listeners several times throughout the course of the search.\n"Statistics from the FBI show stranger abductions of children have dropped significantly in the last few years, but it doesn't make this idea less important," said state Rep. Mike Dvorak, D-Granger. "This could very well save children's lives."\nBut the network is not a guaranteed success.\nOnly about 20 percent of the descriptions aired resulted in the safe return of children, state police Col. Larry Delaney said, and Michigan had to scrap its initial system after police, media and the public said too many alerts were being issued.\n"We really have to work at this to avoid the 'cry-wolf' syndrome," Dvorak said.\nTechnical logistics aside, Delaney said the process would be worthwhile if just one child is saved from a sexual attack, serious injury or death.\n"This is the optimum time to be introducing this in Indiana," Delaney said. "Public awareness of child abductions, because of what's happened in California and Fort Wayne and other places, has never been higher. And we'll be getting this alert system up soon because (Gov. Frank O'Bannon) has asked for it."\nThe state Legislature this year approved a bill setting up the alert system, named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, a Texas girl who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle and killed.\nFort Wayne police used for the first time last month a local alert system after a 17-year-old girl was abducted from outside her home. The teen was later found dead and five acquaintances have been charged in her killing.
AMBER alert information\n
- When an AMBER Alert is issued, information about the case is faxed to radio stations designated as primary stations under the Emergency Alert System (EAS). \n
- The primary stations send the same information to area radio and television stations and cable systems via the EAS, and it is immediately broadcast by participating stations to millions of listeners. \n
- Radio stations interrupt programming to announce the Alert, and television stations and cable systems run a "crawl" on the screen along with a picture of the child. \n
- Some states are also incorporating electronic highway billboards in their plans. The billboards, typically used to disseminate traffic information to drivers, now alert the public of abducted children, displaying pertinent information about the child, abductor or suspected vehicle that drivers might look for on highways. \n
- The AMBER Alert message encourages the public to look for the missing child or suspect and become the ears and eyes of local law enforcement. \n
- In the event that you spot a child, adult, or vehicle fitting the AMBER Alert description, immediately call the telephone number given in the AMBER Alert and provide authorities with as much information as you know.
