Eye On CameraWare -- community

The number of missing children had declined in 2001 to the lowest numbers in a decade. So why does it seem all you see on television lately is missing children?
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) report released January 25, 2002, there were 840,279 adults and children reported missing in 2001, down 4.1% from 876,213 in 2000. About 85% to 90% of the reported missing people are children. In 2001, there were 2000 children reported EVERY DAY, and in 2000 that number was even higher at 2,200 reports of missing children a day. 1997 marked the all-time high in reports of missing people: 980,712. That's nearly a million people missing!
AMBER stands for America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response. Amber was also the name of the little girl whose disappearance and murder in 1996 sparked the creation of the Amber Plan. The Amber Plan is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement and media broadcasters. When a child is reported missing to local police departments, a description of the child and, when available, information about the suspected abductor is sent to media broadcasters. Depending on how much information is available, alerts are immediately sent out to the general public. This rapid response is vital to the life of the child: In 75% of homicide child abductions, the child is murdered within the first three hours.
Sixteen states currently use the Amber Alert system. This number is expected to increase to 33 by the end of the year. Legislation will be introduced in Congress this September, outlining a plan to implement the Amber Alert system nationwide.
There have been many successful projects in the past, pairing law enforcement and the media. Possibly the most well-known campaign involved putting the faces of missing children on milk cartons. This 1990's program was discontinued because it frightened too many children while eating breakfast, according to Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The giant discount chain, Wal-Mart, has been credited with locating 72 children since 1996 simply by posting pictures of the missing children on bulletin boards in the stores. Direct mail flyers sent to 80 million households each week has the impressive record of locating one in seven children featured.

The biggest concern is the possibility that the public will be so overwhelmed by Amber Alerts and other programs designed to find missing children, they will begin to ignore the barrage of photos and vehicle descriptions. Law enforcement officials are aware of this concern, and are instructed to issue an Amber Alert only when there is evidence a minor has been abducted, is in a life-threatening situation, and there is enough information identifying the abductor.
Once it has been determined there is enough information to warrant issuing an Amber Alert, police officials notify participating radio and television stations. These broadcasters then get the word out to the general public, describing the child and the abductor, as well as information about the vehicle or any other pertinent details. Some Amber Alert systems also incorporate the use of interstate roadway construction signs, where the information is displayed for passing motorists. The Internet can even be used to sound Amber Alert warnings.
So, has the number of missing children really gone up--or does it just seem that way? The answer is, the number of missing kids has actually gone down, but the safe recovery of children is on the rise partly because of this increased public exposure to the problem.