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Kids 911

Proven Earth 911 concept may be foundation for national Amber Alert system.

Soon after Washington state developed its Amber Alert system, it became apparent that rather than scattering information everywhere, the system needed a single source to disseminate information for law enforcement, businesses, citizens and media.

During the initial Amber Alert, the Washington State Patrol scrambled phone and fax various agencies that would need the information. Numerous calls or faxes to the Department of Transportation, law enforcement, media outlets and the statewide emergency management system -- which would broadcast the alert -- were placed just to publicize the basic facts. An alert issued by the Kent Police in Washington required 44 of the department's 200 staff members to respond to inquiries and help distribute information.

"It was not easy to send updates to the press or to other people," said Dave Kirk, manager of Washington's Digital Government Applications Academy. "All we had was the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The broadcasters are not going to interrupt their programming every 30 minutes to update an Amber Alert."

In a meeting with local radio broadcasters, Kirk said they expressed their desire for a single source for Amber Alert information. "They were emphatic," he said. "They said, 'We want a single URL that doesn't move.'"

Earlier Amber Alerts also revealed the need for a mechanism to push information into neighboring Oregon, Idaho and the province of British Columbia where suspects could flee within hours.

So when Washington state CIO and Department of Information Services (DIS) Director Stuart McKee witnessed a demonstration of the Earth 911 recycling and environmental portal, the solution revealed itself: Why not apply the successful Earth 911 business model -- managing and maintaining a Web site dedicated to a cause and using corporate sponsors for financial support -- to the Amber Alert notification system?

The result is a state pilot called Kids 911, which uses a Web portal as the single source of information, enhancing the current Amber Alert system. Current participants believe Kids 911 could easily evolve into a national Amber Alert system.

The pilot provides a single source where the public can get updates or offer feedback. It also disseminates that information simultaneously to subscribers for free in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and British Columbia. It spreads the word much more quickly, to more people and in more formats than the "regular" Amber Alert. It crosses state borders and doesn't take a whole police force to get information out.

"What is beautiful about the [Kids 911] portal is it does not know boundaries," said Capt. Glenn Cramer of the Office of Government and Media Relations for the Washington State Patrol, which administers the state's Amber Alerts. "We've been in conversations with the Oregon State Police on how we're going to collaborate in sharing information because it's not uncommon [for criminals] to cross borders. To be able to take advantage of that technology is significant to us."


Protecting Interests
Technology is really a small part of the whole operation, according to Kirk. "Somebody said, 'The coolest thing about this is not so much that we got the technology built, but that we got all these entities in the room that want to work together.'"

So how do you get all those different agencies from different states to agree on a 90-day pilot project? "Any collaboration starts with a common business problem," Kirk said. "All of these states are facing the same problems we were, and they're looking for a solution."

When Washington state officials pitched their idea, they understood the issues each jurisdiction and agency faced and addressed them in their initial meetings. But that wasn't the end of the discussion. They came up with a plan, in writing, to tackle each issue.

"The first things we did as a group were: We agreed what our business problems were, and what we were going to do to solve them," Kirk said. "Then we agreed to a charter."

They noted each agency's concerns and issues and included them in the charter, as well as how the new system would address them. "If you don't identify people's interests and protect them, they get stepped on, and the people back out," Kirk said.

The charter included a project schedule to address issues quickly and achieve momentum. Every agency head signed the charter to ensure agency commitment.

"When you have an agency director sign this thing, that secures the executive commitment, and you've got to have that executive sponsorship to make these things work," Kirk said.

The thoughts and visions of each agency went into the charter, which resulted in a "shared vision and an achievable, aggressive approach to getting there," Kirk said. "If you get those two things, that is what builds people's confidence, and they say, 'OK, I'll get in this boat."'


The Catalyst
The growth of Amber Alert around the country reflects public demand for increased public safety, which was exacerbated by 9-11, according to Cramer.

"That has generated a need for improved coordination, [and] sharing of resources and information between numerous public safety, transportation and other public agencies," he said. "We felt a sense of urgency knowing that we had this plan [Amber Alert] in place that was a basic plan, but to further add more value to it, this Web site would help us."

Like Earth 911, much of the success of Kids 911 depends on private-sector cooperation and sponsorship.

The Kids 911 portal will serve as a central conduit for information, compiling photographs of abducted children and extensive data on the incidents. Media outlets could link their Web sites to the portal, driving more traffic to Kids 911.

The portal also makes it possible to push information via e-mail, text-based pagers, text-based cell phones and fax -- any way the Web can send information to people.

"The concept is that it is being [sent] in concurrent fashion," said David Sorrell, project manager in Washington's DIS. "The earlier model is very manual. This is automatically going out to all individuals and organizations that are receiving the same thing at the same time."

Besides individual devices, alerts can be sent to an estimated 3,500 lottery outlets around the state, which volunteered to disseminate the information, or to the many bus drivers in Washington or other states, who could be on the lookout. With the current Amber Alert, the only way to get the information to the public is via radio broadcast and electronic highway signs.

"There are so many groups it can reach through the Web," Kirk said. "They are kind of the headwaters to a whole new set of people and connections, and they can pass [the information] on. It takes no more effort for all of us to reach all of those other people."

The project is supported by some of the top technology and security experts in the country. ESRI designed the GIS mapping system that targets the alerts to specific geographic areas. Other private-sector participants are Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Swan Island and New Technologies Management.

Results of the pilot will be evaluated before other states are signed on, but Kirk said as many as 10 states are waiting in the wings.

The pilot also will help determine what agency will control the system -- which Kirk said will probably be the State Patrol -- and how it will be secured. The latter is still being debated.

"We're thinking of letting there be a few persistent security credentials that would be provided to some central control in each state," Kirk said, adding that credentials won't be issued over the Internet. Also, neither IDs nor passwords will be given to the approximately 300 law enforcement agencies in each state. The administration of security would be delegated to each state.

When an Amber Alert is issued, the controlling body of Kids 911 probably will immediately issue security credentials for that alert only, then cancel them when the alert is over. New security credentials would be issued for the next alert.

"The main thing is that it is authentic and that nobody tampers with it during an alert," Kirk said.

Security must be designed around the fact that the system will be used infrequently, Kirk said, but must be simple and easy to implement when an alert occurs. "You've got to hit the ground running, and there can be minimal effort or expense in security administration on an ongoing basis. Earth 911 is talking to several companies we think can provide that."

The pilot will help the state identify bugs in the system, but optimism is high about the project's future. In fact, Earth 911 President and CEO Chris Warner projected the system could be nationwide by the end of the year.

Kirk said states wouldn't have to do a lot of "tailoring" to subscribe to Kids 911. "This system will work with existing police policies and procedures. All you need is a Web browser. If you can get to the Internet, you can use this."