1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Hey, I'm welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,319 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and Jerry sitting in for Dave, which makes 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: everything normal. That's right, Chuck. Yes, we're going to do 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: this like an old school stuff you should know episode. 5 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 2: I have a feeling I know what's coming. 6 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 1: Have you ever gotten an Amber Alert? 7 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 2: Yes? 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: I have. 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 2: There's nothing more sort of ear splitting and troublesome, immediately 10 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 2: troublesome and upsetting than getting that claxon Amber alert all 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 2: of a sudden at your nightstand, coming through your smartphone. 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: Yeah. That's actually a little older than I thought. I 13 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: think those started in twenty twelve. Wireless emergency alert Yeah, 14 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: and yes you can turn them off. But if you 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: turn them off, you are shedding a slight amount of 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: your humanity perhaps, although there's a debate about whether they're 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: being over used or not. But one of the wireless 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: emergency alerts that you can get is an Amber alert. Specifically, 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: there's other ones we'll mention at the end of the episode, 20 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: but the Amber alert is like the OG and it 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: has a terrible tragic origin story to it. Amber actually 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,639 Speaker 1: is an acronym for America's Missing Colon of all things 23 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: broadcast emergency response AMBER. But it's also the namesake of 24 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: a girl, I think a nine year old named Amber 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: Hagerman who lived in Arlington, Texas in nineteen ninety six. 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 2: That's right, And we should probably tell you what an 27 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 2: AMBER alert is before we get into that sad story, 28 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 2: because if you're from abroad, you don't know that an 29 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 2: AMBER warning is when a child has gone missing and 30 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 2: they send out basically we'll see it's operated by the state, 31 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 2: but essentially almost always ends up being a nationwide alert 32 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 2: sent to highway billboards that are digital, sometimes lottery signs 33 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: that are digital and can be changed your cell phone, 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: on the television, and they just they get it out 35 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: in all these ways that hey, we're issuing this now 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: because you know, usually it's like this child is in 37 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 2: this kind of car and on a highway, and if 38 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 2: everyone keeps their eyes open, we may get lucky here 39 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 2: if everyone really pays attention for the next few hours. 40 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: That was a great definition of the amburlers. 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I sort of went off on my 42 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 2: own thing, but I think everyone knows that the likelihood 43 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 2: of finding an abducted person or a missing person gets 44 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 2: less and less as time goes on. So those those 45 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 2: first that first hour is just so critical, even if 46 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 2: they can get out a warning that says there's a 47 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 2: Ford Taurus with this license plate and this kid is 48 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 2: in it, so keep your eyes. 49 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: Peeled exactly all right, Well, thanks for setting me up 50 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: for telling the tragic story of Amber Hagerman, but I 51 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: kind of have to now. Yeah, back in January of 52 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, Amber, who was, like I said, a 53 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: nine year old from Arlington, Texas, had gotten a bike 54 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: for Christmas and was riding it around near her grandmother's house. 55 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: And there was an abandoned wind Dixie grocery store the 56 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: parking lot of which she was riding around, riding her 57 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,959 Speaker 1: bike around, and there was a local man, a seventy 58 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: eight year old man named Jimmy Kevell, who was watching 59 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: a ride her bike. And Jimmy Kevill apparently is the 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: lone witness to Amber's abduction. He said that a black 61 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: pickup truck showed up and a white or Hispanic man 62 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: in his twenties or thirties got out and took Amber 63 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: forcibly with him, and there was a nationwide search for Amber. 64 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: I'm not exactly sure what it was about. That case 65 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: that got everybody, but her disappearance launched a nationwide search 66 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: pre amber alert, and tragically, three i think three days later, 67 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: dog walker found her body in a creek. Because of 68 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: the need, it showed to coordinate to get the word 69 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: out at the Dallas Fort Worth Area Police Department's law 70 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: enforcement got together with the broadcasters from the area and said, hey, 71 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: let's figure out like a basic way to get the 72 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: word out for abducted children, like asap. Let's figure out 73 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: a standardized way to do that. And they came up 74 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: with the Amber alert. I think within ten months they 75 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: had the system up and running. 76 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is a great thing. Sadly, they it's a 77 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,119 Speaker 2: case it remains unsolved, but let's take a break and 78 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: we can get back and talk a little bit about 79 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 2: the specifics of how they work right after this, all right, 80 00:04:58,200 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 2: So I mentioned that it was up to the state, 81 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 2: which is true. Every state has their own criteria for 82 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 2: issuing amber alerts and how it goes down. But the DOJ, 83 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 2: the Department of Justice, did issue guidelines about recommendations that 84 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 2: kind of break down into five categories for different reasons. 85 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 2: The first one is law enforcement has a reasonable belief 86 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 2: that a child was abducted. This one's pretty obvious on 87 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 2: what that means. The second one is law enforcement believes 88 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 2: the child will suffer serious bodily harm or worse. And 89 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 2: the reason they have these criteria is because there are 90 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 2: missing children all the time and not all of them. 91 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 2: In fact, very few of them get the actual Amber alert. 92 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,239 Speaker 2: So this is to sort of qualify for that specific case. 93 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: And the bodily harm one is the need for just 94 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 2: a timely response that they have information where they believe, 95 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 2: you know, in a lot of times it could be 96 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 2: like a relative that has them that's very upset or 97 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 2: has made threats and things like that. 98 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, but I think the the crux or the underlying 99 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: gist of AMBER alerts is abduction by a stranger, because 100 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: that's the greatest danger typically that an abducted child can 101 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: be in. There's also a standard that most states have 102 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: adopted seventeen or younger. They're like, let's not put pronouncements 103 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: on what's a child or not. We can all just 104 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: basically agree anybody under eighteen as a child and if 105 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: they meet this criteria, then we're going to issue an 106 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: Amber alert. And then the last part is and this 107 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: is a step that not everybody takes, but it seems 108 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: very critical. You want to take that information that you 109 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: send out on the Amber alert and enter it in 110 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: the National Crime Information Center system, flag it as a 111 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: child abduction, and all of a sudden, the AMBER alert 112 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: will go from a local or a state or a 113 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: regional thing all the way out to national like nationwide. 114 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: Law enforcement all around the country will have an alert 115 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: that this kid has been abducted, so be on the 116 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: lookout for them. But not all states have that as 117 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: part of their criteria contingency plan, which is supper. 118 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, there was one we missed. The other 119 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 2: criteria is there's enough detail about the appearance and the 120 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 2: abduction of the child so they won't issue an Amber 121 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 2: alert if it's just like like I don't know what 122 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 2: my kid was wearing, I don't know where she last was. 123 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 2: I really have no information. They have to have pretty 124 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: concrete information about what the child was wearing at the time, 125 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 2: what they looked like at the time, and where they 126 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 2: might have been adducted, and especially if there's anything like 127 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 2: you know, it was a black pickup truck or it 128 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 2: was it was definitely my brother in law and this 129 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 2: is his car. And license plate number, and on the 130 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 2: seventeen and younger thing, because it's different states. Some states 131 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 2: may have a guideline that it's let's say fifteen, but 132 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 2: they agree to honor the rule of the state that 133 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 2: the abduction took place in. 134 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, if the amber alert makes it across state lines, yeah, 135 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: So there's I said that some people are are critical 136 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: of not necessarily Amber alerts, but just alerts in general. 137 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: Because if you're woken up at three am, whether it's 138 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: an Amber alert, a silver alert, which is used to 139 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: alert people of a missing person with dementia Alzheimer's purple alert, 140 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: is one for an adult with cognitive impairment who's going missing, 141 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: it's all the same to you. So there's a part 142 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: of issuing amber alerts. And one of the reasons why 143 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: the criteria is so strict is you don't want to 144 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: get people used to those alerts. You want it to 145 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: be a big deal when your phone goes off with 146 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: an Amber alert at three in the morning, that everybody 147 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: takes the time to wake up and look, that's that's crucial. 148 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: It's a crucial part of it because if everybody becomes 149 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: desensitized to it, that's a problem. On the other hand, 150 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: there are people who are like, there's a lot of 151 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: people who need to have their their the fact that 152 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: they're missing be alerted out to everybody that just don't 153 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: meet the criteria of the amberl alert. And so there's 154 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: other kinds of alerts. Someone's Everbridge alert, which is it's 155 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: cases where children have been targeted or abducted or gone missing, 156 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: but they don't meet the criteria of the Amber alert. 157 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: Like say, you know for a fact the child was 158 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: abducted and that they're probably in danger, but you don't have, 159 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: like you said, the description of what they were wearing 160 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: or what kind of car they were forced into, you 161 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: might not issue an Amber alert. And in fact, in 162 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, there were three hundred and sixty five thousand 163 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: entries that year in the National Crime Information Center system 164 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: for missing kids, but two hundred of them met the 165 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: criteria for AMBER alerts to be issued. So there's a 166 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: weird balancing act that you have to go through that 167 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: I don't think anybody's figured out yet, But that's why 168 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: that criteria is supposed to be so rigidly adhered to. 169 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, and from what I've read, it's not like there's 170 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 2: any it's just about the alert, not like necessarily how 171 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 2: hard the cops may be working to try and find 172 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: this missing kid. It's just a very specific criteria because 173 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 2: I think when it meets that criteria, that means there's 174 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 2: a decent likelihood that if you act fast in the 175 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 2: next few hours, like I said at the very beginning, 176 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 2: then somebody might see something that could really help. Because 177 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 2: we have all this information, I feel like most of 178 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,319 Speaker 2: the ones I've seen have been family members, which is interesting. 179 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 2: I had no idea that it was supposedly for stranger abduction, 180 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 2: but they've done a lot of good work. From nineteen 181 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:46,320 Speaker 2: ninety six to twenty twenty three, Amber specifically Amber alerts 182 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 2: have contributed to the recovery of one and eighty six children, 183 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 2: and then other wireless emergency alerts rescued one hundred and 184 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 2: sixty five and over that that may not seem like 185 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,079 Speaker 2: a high number over that period of time, but if 186 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 2: it's literally the success of a single signal being sent 187 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 2: out finding eleven hundred and eighty six children, that's amazing. 188 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: Yeah. One of the stories I've seen bandied about by 189 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: pro Amber alert people just basically everybody that there was 190 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: like a kid who had an amber alert miss or 191 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 1: issued and was recovered within like less than thirty minutes 192 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: because of the amber alert. So it definitely does work. 193 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: I mean, if they're only issuing two hundred a year 194 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: and they in seven years they managed to cover almost 195 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,559 Speaker 1: twelve hundred or thirteen hundred children, that's a pretty good 196 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: track record. 197 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:40,559 Speaker 2: Really. 198 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, you got anything else, I. 199 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 2: Got nothing else. Keep that alert on. It's distressing. But 200 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 2: and if you're you know, if you're on the road 201 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 2: at the time and you see something like that, like 202 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 2: you do your part. That's what they're looking for, is 203 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 2: people to really keep their eyes peeled and be vigilant. 204 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, and if you're a state legislator, maybe take the 205 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: time to really sit there and see if your state 206 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: has too many or is issuing too many of these 207 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: things and is in danger of desensitizing the public because 208 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: you do not want to do that. And of course, 209 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: since I just spoke directly as state legislators, that means 210 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: short stuff is out. 211 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 2: Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. 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