The AMBER Alert 911 Web portal is a tool for law enforcement to aid in swiftly distributing information about an abducted child and the suspected perpetrator to other law enforcement agencies, the media, members of the public and other stakeholders.
"The new AMBER Alert 911 Web portal offers an unprecedented opportunity to help save children's lives and deter the abduction of children within our states and across the nation," Locke said. "The AMBER Alert 911 portal will help save lives at a time when every minute counts, and I am particularly pleased that this effective, comprehensive system was developed with no cost to government, the public or the media to use it."
Both Washington and Montana have led the way in implementing the AMBER Alert 911 system.
"We all know that when a child is abducted, time is of the essence," said Martz. "In states like Montana where distances are great and populations sparse, this project will be an even bigger help to get the word out faster and to more people than ever."
Once law enforcement determines that a situation meets the criteria for an AMBER alert, the AMBER Alert 911 technology notifies thousands of subscribers via email, cell phones, pagers and other devices within minutes -- a significant breakthrough since statistics show that 74 percent of abducted children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction.
The main driver behind the portal is the AMBER Alert Web Portal Consortium, a public/private partnership of states, law enforcement, the broadcast media and private corporations. Private corporations support the portal through sponsorships which cover recurring operational costs, thus making the system available to states, law enforcement, broadcast media and the public at no cost.
The AMBER Alert 911 portal also features ongoing educational initiatives regarding the dangers of child abductions and the most effective ways to safeguard children.
The AMBER Alert 911 portal is live in Washington. Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Oregon are scheduled for implementation in the near future.
