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CNN Live Today
AOL Amber Alert
Aired October 01, 2002 - 11:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: When a child disappears, time is of the essence to find that child. This past summer, the Amber Alert system started receiving national attention when police credited that system with helping them locate several missing children. Now, through a joint effort of AOL, the parent company of CNN, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Amber Alert system will be available online.
Ernie Allen, the center's president, joins us from Washington with details.
Ernie, good morning.
ERNIE ALLEN, NATL. CTR. FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: How is this going to work, with AOL?
ALLEN: Well, it's really an extraordinary effort. AOL is going to reach out to their 29 million subscribers and others and offer the opportunity to receive targeted Amber Alert information online, and this could be by e-mail, by cell phone, by Instant Messaging. It's an ability to expand the audience of people who are receiving key information in those early moments following the abduction of a child.
KAGAN: As I understand it, you have to be asked to be part of the system, so it's not just going to pop up automatically.
ALLEN: No, and we think that's important. It's an opt-in. But for people who would like to receive that information, all they have to do is make that request, AOL will provide it, and it will be targeted to their community, to their area, so they won't get a nationwide Amber Alerts, but they will get Amber Alerts in their immediate area.
KAGAN: We did see this summer how successfully Amber Alerts can be. But one criticism is that it's overkill, and people will be seeing these alerts all the time, and just like the postcards you get in the mail or the back of the milk carton, people will start ignoring them?
ALLEN: Well, Daryn, we don't think that's true at all. The reality is the Amber Alert program is about six years old, and the incidence of these cases being disseminated is running about one a month. So it's certainly not been overused. It's real important law enforcement determines which cases are included. It's only for the most serious child abduction cases, where a child is in immediate risk, and where there is descriptive information to generate those vital leads and information. Thirty-two children's lives have already been saved nationwide because of Amber Alerts.
KAGAN: And when does it start, when you can start getting it on AOL if you want it?
ALLEN: Well, you can start signing up right now. AOL will initiate this effort in early November.
KAGAN: We wish you well. Ernie Allen, thanks for the heads-up. Appreciate it.
ALLEN: Thank you, Daryn.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 1, 2002 - 11:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: When a child disappears, time is of the essence to find that child. This past summer, the Amber Alert system started receiving national attention when police credited that system with helping them locate several missing children. Now, through a joint effort of AOL, the parent company of CNN, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Amber Alert system will be available online.
Ernie Allen, the center's president, joins us from Washington with details.
Ernie, good morning.
ERNIE ALLEN, NATL. CTR. FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: How is this going to work, with AOL?
ALLEN: Well, it's really an extraordinary effort. AOL is going to reach out to their 29 million subscribers and others and offer the opportunity to receive targeted Amber Alert information online, and this could be by e-mail, by cell phone, by Instant Messaging. It's an ability to expand the audience of people who are receiving key information in those early moments following the abduction of a child.
KAGAN: As I understand it, you have to be asked to be part of the system, so it's not just going to pop up automatically.
ALLEN: No, and we think that's important. It's an opt-in. But for people who would like to receive that information, all they have to do is make that request, AOL will provide it, and it will be targeted to their community, to their area, so they won't get a nationwide Amber Alerts, but they will get Amber Alerts in their immediate area.
KAGAN: We did see this summer how successfully Amber Alerts can be. But one criticism is that it's overkill, and people will be seeing these alerts all the time, and just like the postcards you get in the mail or the back of the milk carton, people will start ignoring them?
ALLEN: Well, Daryn, we don't think that's true at all. The reality is the Amber Alert program is about six years old, and the incidence of these cases being disseminated is running about one a month. So it's certainly not been overused. It's real important law enforcement determines which cases are included. It's only for the most serious child abduction cases, where a child is in immediate risk, and where there is descriptive information to generate those vital leads and information. Thirty-two children's lives have already been saved nationwide because of Amber Alerts.
KAGAN: And when does it start, when you can start getting it on AOL if you want it?
ALLEN: Well, you can start signing up right now. AOL will initiate this effort in early November.
KAGAN: We wish you well. Ernie Allen, thanks for the heads-up. Appreciate it.
ALLEN: Thank you, Daryn.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
