Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 9, 2002
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Glenn Cramer, Washington State Patrol, 360-753-5299

Gov. Gary Locke Announces New Statewide Amber Alert Plan

Before an audience of school children, Gov. Gary Locke today unveiled the Washington State Statewide Amber Plan, a new coordinated effort to help law enforcement quickly find abducted children.

“We need to do all we can to protect the children of our state,” Locke said during a visit to the Madrona K-8 School in Seattle. “This new statewide system will let law enforcement agencies across the state know in minutes if a child is abducted in Washington. In child-abduction cases, every second counts.”

The Washington State Amber Plan is the result of a voluntary partnership and cooperative effort among the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, Washington State Association of Broadcasters, Washington State Emergency Management Division, Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Attorney General’s Office, and the Washington State Patrol, among many others.

The statewide emergency alert system provides law enforcement agencies access to on-air radio and television stations across the state during the critical minutes following an initial child abduction report to local authorities. The goal of the Washington State Statewide Amber Plan is to disseminate accurate information statewide about the abduction of a child as quickly as possible.

“Protecting our children is the number one priority for the State Patrol,” said Washington State Patrol Chief Ronal Serpas. “This new statewide Amber plan will help law enforcement agencies around the state respond more quickly and in a more coordinated way in child-abduction cases.”

To activate the Washington State Statewide Amber Plan the following criteria must be met:

· A child has been taken and the incident is reported to law enforcement
· The abducted child must be under 18 years of age
· Law enforcement must believe the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death
· There must be enough descriptive information to believe a broadcast will assist in the recovery of the child

Under the new plan, the Washington State Patrol will act as the main point of contact for local law enforcement agencies wanting to broadcast their local child-abduction information statewide through the state’s Emergency Alert System, which is coordinated and operated by the state’s Emergency Management Division. The new statewide plan will take advantage of the communications and dispatching capabilities of various 9-1-1 and dispatch centers around the state that have developed their procedures to become “Amber Ready” as well as other communications systems of state government.

The State Patrol will coordinate with the Washington State Department of Transportation to put customized messages about an abducted child on the department’s roadside reader boards. The State Patrol will also send a text message to all law enforcement agencies in the state about the case.

The Washington Statewide Amber Plan is not intended to replace local Amber alert plans that have been or will be established around the state, but it will serve as a supplemental method of providing information to the public statewide.

“Washington benefits from cities and counties being the cornerstone of an emergency response system,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg, director of the Washington Military Department, which includes the Emergency Management Division. “This decentralized system is highly effective, but we need to ensure it will respond as rapidly as possible across multiple jurisdictions if a child is abducted.”

The Amber Alert Plan was created in memory of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted while riding her bicycle near her Arlington, Texas, home in January 1996. A neighbor was able to provide details about the car and abductor to law enforcement officials, but no system was in place to get the information to local residents quickly. Amber’s body was found four days later.

Since its implementation in various jurisdictions nationwide, national Amber alert plans have assisted in the safe recovery of at least 31 children.

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