Amber Alerts work, but critics see flaws

WASHINGTON - Hours after 14-month-old Jayton Dentler disappeared, police in Lafayette, Colo., called the media and activated an Amber Alert that plastered Jayton's face over television and the Internet.

The next day, his father dropped him off with relatives in Iowa, pressured by the Amber Alert's spotlight, according to police.

Missing children's advocates hope this will become standard procedure now that Amber Alert systems are active across the United States a year after Congress expanded the program.

Critics point to the case of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota. Carlie's parents called police within minutes of her highly publicized disappearance in February. But a full day passed before police decided the case fit the Amber Alert profile. Carlie's body was found several days later.

One problem is that each state has different rules about case specifics that qualify for Amber Alerts. Also, police and families sometimes face layers of bureaucracy before local Amber Alert officials will agree to issue statewide alerts. In addition, states must negotiate the broadcasting of alerts across state lines.

There is wide agreement that kidnapped children are better off with Amber Alert systems than without.

Authorities link the recovery of at least 134 children since 1999 to the AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert's system of notifying the public of child kidnappings. Numbers are not kept on how many Amber Alerts are issued. Every year nearly 800,000 children are reported missing, according to Attorney General John Ashcroft.

When an Amber Alert is sounded, case details are flashed to media outlets and lottery retailers describing the missing child and the suspected kidnappers and providing other information. Highway traffic advisory signs are activated, and a special telephone number is distributed.

Under the program - named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted in Texas and killed in 1996 - police also get immediate faxes, telephone text messages and e-mails describing the child and possible kidnappers.

Some angry parents question the time it takes to issue alerts, and local police are frustrated at having to fill out paperwork, attend classes, then still have to convince state officials that alerts should be issued.

The only way the government could require states to relay Amber Alerts nationwide immediately would be to federalize the program. That would be a mistake, says Deborah Daniels, the assistant U.S. attorney general who coordinates state Amber Alert programs for the Justice Department.

The program works best when local authorities can weed out inaccurate reports, she said. Otherwise, the alerts could become as common as the shrieking car alarms many people ignore.

Justice Department's Amber Alert information: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/amberalert

Missing & Exploited Children: http://missingkids.com

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