The Amber Alert system has proven effective throughout the United States, but each state has its own criteria and process for releasing information. Prior to the launch of the multi-state project led by Washington and its numerous partners, Amber Alerts basically stopped at a state's border and required labor-intensive efforts by law enforcement organizations.
The exercise was a pilot project involving dozens of participants, designed to demonstrate how a national Amber Alert system might work. It leveraged the technical infrastructure of Earth 911 -- best known for its nationwide environmental Web portal -- and the information and resources provided by state and local law enforcement participants working with the State Broadcasters Association.
The Amber pilot has been in development for several months in anticipation of the need to cross state borders with alerts about child abductions. It was also an informal test of a revised emergency alert system that could create inter-state communication. According to Dave Kirk, manager of the Digital Government Applications Academy for the Washington Department of Information Services (DIS), the Amber Alert was pushed out to participants using a variety of channels including cell phones, pagers, e-mail, Fax machines and media outlets. The project was initiated by State CIO and DIS Director Stuart McKee.
"Law enforcement is in charge of the information," Kirk said. "They can push updates out as often as they feel is necessary." The alert begins with a reporting agency -- in this case the Sheriff's Department in Kennewick County -- going to the law enforcement section of the Kids 911 Web site (managed by Earth 911 in Phoenix, Ariz.) and entering critical data along with photos of the missing child and, ideally, the suspect. If the abduction fits the criteria of the Washington State Patrol, the notice is immediately pushed out to media outlets, other law enforcement agencies, the Department of Transportation, Customs agents on the Canadian border, parole and prison officials and local transit operators, among others. Neighboring states -- Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona along with the province of British Columbia -- also received the notice and pushed it out through their networks. "There is really no limit to the number of networks we can tap into," Kirk said, explaining that the alerts will be "simultaneous rather than sequential."
According to Capt. Glenn Cramer with the Washington State Patrol, collaboration is key to successfully implementing a cross-boundary alert system. "There were some egos involved," he admitted. "How did we overcome that? Our plan was inclusive of all the statewide plans. We did a lot to assure [participants] that this did not take the place of their local plans." The challenges, he said, were "interpersonal, political and cultural."
But, in dealing with something as sensitive as child abductions, responsibility to a positive outcome was primary, Cramer explained. "It was to unite around a common business problem and also to unite around a common purpose."
In addition, the public-private partnership provides the entire system to government at no charge. Kids911, a private enterprise supported by sponsorships from some of the nation's leading companies, replicates the business model that successfully supports Earth 911 and Pets 911, headed by President and CEO Chris Warner.
Although the underlying technology of the system resides with Kids 911 from modest headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz., government portals can make the application their own by giving the link the look and feel that matches their own Web presence. In addition, outreach and marketing of the site -- also done by Warner's group at no charge -- is designed to appear as if it is coming from the jurisdiction.
"When we work on projects like this, they are never one-offs," Warner said in announcing the pilot project last week in Washington, D.C. "You build it as a scaleable program. We are building a base network for the whole nation." When fully implemented in all 50 states, Earth 911 replaced thousands of recycling "hotlines" with one Web site and an 800 phone number. That model, Warner said, is easy to translate to other uses such as Amber Alert. "Every state has a plan and a lot of counties have plans," he said. "None of the plans are the same. So, what you have is a fast-moving train wreck."
Along with a lot of duplicated effort, according to Cramer. He recalled one abduction alert in a county with 200 employees. "It took 44 staff, full time for 48 hours," he said. "That was one-third of the staff consumed with one investigation." The bottom line for law enforcement, however, is bringing abducted children home unharmed. Cross-boundary alerts could send an important message to would-be abductors, according to Cramer, that no place is safe.
That includes the nation's borders. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S.Border Patrol and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at the U.S./Canadian border between Washington and Canada also signed onto the pilot project. According to one Customs official, shared information can amount to shared resources. "Besides getting the reporting capabilities," he said, "you get the assets." He said border agents have access to people and sophisticated equipment that enhances combined law enforcement actions.
Warner added that the project also enjoys the expertise of the nation's top technology and security experts. "The best minds in the world are on it," he said. For example, sophisticated mapping systems have been designed by ESRI. Other private-sector participants include Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Swan Island, New Technologies Management and the Center for Digital Government.
Kirk said that results of the pilot project will be evaluated before rolling it out to more states. Warner says that at least 10 more states are ready to sign on in the near future, but his vision extends further. "The reality is it could be nationwide by the end of the year," he said.
The pilot was aimed at testing and demonstrating the portal's ability to deliver detailed Amber Alert information, according to Kirk, and to augment the Emergency Alert System network that is constrained by state borders. In addition to multiple states, the alert was sent to train stations, airports and bus terminals to cover any transportation contingency an abductor might use.
Photo l-r: Chris Warner, Earth 911; Captain Glenn Cramer, Washington State Patrol; Dave Kirk, Washington Department of Information Services.
