The Policy/ Law Amber Alert - Assignment Example

The Policy/ Law Amber Alert Affiliation: The Amber alert is an alert system for child abduction used in the United States to alert the law enforcement officers as well as the public about the abduction of a child. The Amber alert (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) was originated and 1996 and was named after a young girl Amber Hagerman who was abducted in her neighborhood and later murdered. Even though the police never found her abductors and murderers, the family and friends got support to pursue tougher measures to protect children who have been abducted (Williams, 2005).

The law started with the drafting of the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act which facilitated the signing into law the bill on creation of the national sex offender registry. The people with the forefront being Amber’s parents collected more signatures seeking creation and enforcement of more stringent laws for the sex offenders in addition to the register. A symposium for the media presented the perfected ground to raise awareness of the issue as well as provide information and suggestions on the effort the local police can take to deal with the issue of missing children.

The amber alert was passed to prevent the increase in child abductors and find ways to not only nub them quickly but prosecute them as well (Williams, 2005). The Amber alert is implemented from the local and state up until the federal level where it is handled by the FBI. At the local level, the local law enforcement officers gather the information about the missing child (amber alert is only for those under 18 years) and the abductors including the car model being used. The information is then recorded to the FBI crimes unit and dispersed to the rest of the local law enforcement officers and the public (McGowan, 2011).

Information is passed to the public through SMS, social media, email, bill boards, television and radio among many other channels (Mayer, 2014). This information is picked up at the state level and the federal level as well. At the federal level, the Department of Justice Abduction Response Teams (CART) works in collaboration with the local and state agencies to handle the amber alert. The law enforcement officers have had to utilize lesser resources and even save a lot of time in searching for the missing children unlike before the law was implemented.

This has been facilitated by the fact that the public has become the eyes of the law enforcement officers once the amber alert is made. As for the courts, they have had a fairly easier time prosecuting such perpetrators of the abductions as the evidence is usually present and in plenty. With the public also being aware of the information of the case and pressuring for fair prosecution, the courts have been prosecuting many of the victims without much problem. The amber alert has led to an increase in the number of people being sent to the correctional facilities.

The biggest challenge the law has brought is in regards to the crowding of prison and correctional facilities. Some states have had to think of more correctional measures to undertake in regards with the offenders nabbed by the amber alert law (Mayer, 2014). ReferencesMayer, A. (2014, May 27th). Recovery of baby Victoria shows social media reach of Amber Alerts. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/recovery-of-baby-victoria- shows-social-media-reach-of-amber-alerts-1.2655942McGowan, L.

(2011, November 14). FBI 2010 report indicates slight increase in hate crimes. The Leadership Conference. Retrieved from http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/11/2010-hatecrimes.htmlWilliams, C. (2005). Faces of the Amber alert. New York: AuthorHouse.