VIDEO WEBCAST
Originally broadcast live on
Wednesday, October 24, 2001

PIONEERING PROGRAM TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM
SERIOUS CHILD ABDUCTIONS LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Dallas/Ft. Worth Association of Radio Managers
and National Association of Broadcasters

Announce the official kickoff of the 

AMBER Plan
America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response

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EVENT INFORMATION:

Participants:

Ernie Allen, President & CEO
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 

Susan M. Eid, Legal Advisor to FCC Chairman Michael Powell

John Walsh, Founder
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Eddie Fritts, President & CEO
National Association of Broadcasters

Sheriff Dee Anderson, Cofounder, AMBER Plan 

Tyler Cox, President, Association of Radio Managers
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

Donna Norris, Amber Hagerman’s Mother

Carla Stovall, President, National Association of Attorneys General

The Honorable Nick Lampson (D-TX),Chairman,
Congressional Caucus on Missing & Exploited Children 

The Honorable Martin Frost (D-TX), Arlington, TX 

Steve and Patricia Bradbury, parents of recovered child

The AMBER Plan is an innovative community based program that’s saving abducted children and apprehending their predators. It’s a unique voluntary partnership between law enforcement and broadcasters to activate urgent alerts to the public in serious child abductions.  It was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas. So far, it’s saved 16 children.  Now, as we commemorate the five-year anniversary of Amber’s murder, we want to make sure every community in the country has this life saving program.  Free AMBER Alert kits will be distributed to law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to make it easy to implement a plan in their area.  This kit includes a “how-to” handbook and a training videotape hosted by John Walsh.

Statistics show that the first few hours after a child abduction are critical to the child’s safe recovery. According to a study by the U.S. Justice Department, about 75 percent of the children who are kidnapped and later found murdered die within the first three hours of being taken. That statistic alone should prompt every community to implement the AMBER Plan before a tragedy strikes.