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American Morning

Look at How Amber Plan Works

Aired July 19, 2002 - 08:46   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It was only 24 hours from the time Samantha Runnion was kidnapped until her lifeless body was discovered. Many experts say that when a child is kidnapped, time is the absolute enemy. That's why an emergency response system right now is so critical. The Amber Plan, launched nationwide last fall, allows law enforcement to get the message out to a community immediately when a child goes missing.

Tragically, though, an Amber alert could not save Samantha Runnion. In this case, Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children knows this topic all too well.

Good morning to you. Nice to have you here.

ERNIE ALLEN, PRESIDENT. NTL. CTR. FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: I want to take you back to 1996. Nine-year-old Amber Hagerman kidnapped and murdered. Tell us about her story and what it led to, sir.

ALLEN: Well, it was one of these outrageous cases, exactly like Samantha Runnion, in which Amber, a 9-year-old child, was stolen by an abductor, was found murdered. The community of Arlington, Texas, the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, was outraged about it, and got together, came together and built a response, headed by the radio association in the area, and built the Amber Plan.

The concept was to use the emergency broadcast system, just as we do in weather emergencies, to do instant dissemination of information about the most serious child abduction cases by a radio, by a crawl on television, and the exciting thing is that 17 children's lives have already been saved through the use of the Amber Plan.

HEMMER: You've had success then, have you not?

ALLEN: Absolutely. And our goal is to make it truly national, to get every community. Right now, there are 40 amber plans, 12 statewide, 28 local plans, and our hope is to take it into every community in America.

HEMMER: I want to get back to that point a moment, because I think it's critical. But you described for us a little bit about how that system works. It's essentially a cooperation between police and local media. There must be criteria to be met though, I'd assume. Take us through what that is, or what they are, essentially, in order to get the alert out on the airwaves and begin the search.

ALLEN: Well, Bill, you're absolutely right. The goal is to target only those most serious child abduction cases, where a child is in immediate and serious risk. Law enforcement agencies actually trigger the Amber Alert, so there is a system. It's a partnership between law enforcement and broadcasters. The local police department determines that a case has happened in which a child is at risk, alerts the emergency alert system in that community, radio interrupts broadcasting to provide key descriptive information, television runs crawls across the screen.

The whole concept is to reach out to the eyes and ears of the people in that community while in those early moments when the child is at the greatest risk.

HEMMER: I don't mean to make this an unfair question, sir. But is the Amber Plan in place in the part of Southern California where Samantha Runnion was picked up?

ALLEN: Yes, it is. In Southern California, they call it the Care Alert, and to the credit of broadcasters and law enforcement in Southern California, there was an instant message sent out to the eyes and ears of people across Southern California. The tragedy is it didn't help. But in many of these cases, it will help. And we are particularly excited to be partnering with the National Association of Broadcasters in this effort. We think this is a responsible, positive community service, and the history has shown that it is not overused. We are not using it for runaway cases, for parental abduction cases, only for those most serious cases.

HEMMER: Let me take you just take you back to Samantha Runnion. We're running up against the clock here. You said the message was transmitted in an instant, I believe is the word you used. Can you give us a better description? Are you talking minutes or hours, sir?

ALLEN: Well, we are talking minutes. I think very clearly because there was a witness to Samantha's abduction, it was understood that this was a serious stranger abduction. The Orange County law enforcement agency alerted their Care Alert plan, and very quickly, certainly within 30 to 60 minutes, information about the abductor and her abduction was out over the airwaves.

HEMMER: Need a quick answer on this one. You say it's active right now in 12 states across the country. What's preventing it right now from being implemented in all 50?

ALLEN: Well, the only barrier is getting together, getting law enforcement and broadcasters together and making it happen.

HEMMER: Good luck, OK? Ernie Allen, president there in Washington D.C., the National Center For Exploited and Missing Children.

Been a tough summer already, sir. Thanks for coming in and talking with us about the Amber Plan.

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