WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Amber Alerts

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, I'm welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry sitting in for Dave, which makes

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<v Speaker 1>everything normal. That's right, Chuck. Yes, we're going to do

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<v Speaker 1>this like an old school stuff you should know episode.

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<v Speaker 2>I have a feeling I know what's coming.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you ever gotten an Amber Alert?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes?

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<v Speaker 1>I have.

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<v Speaker 2>There's nothing more sort of ear splitting and troublesome, immediately

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<v Speaker 2>troublesome and upsetting than getting that claxon Amber alert all

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<v Speaker 2>of a sudden at your nightstand, coming through your smartphone.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. That's actually a little older than I thought. I

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<v Speaker 1>think those started in twenty twelve. Wireless emergency alert Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and yes you can turn them off. But if you

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<v Speaker 1>turn them off, you are shedding a slight amount of

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<v Speaker 1>your humanity perhaps, although there's a debate about whether they're

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<v Speaker 1>being over used or not. But one of the wireless

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<v Speaker 1>emergency alerts that you can get is an Amber alert. Specifically,

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<v Speaker 1>there's other ones we'll mention at the end of the episode,

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<v Speaker 1>but the Amber alert is like the OG and it

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<v Speaker 1>has a terrible tragic origin story to it. Amber actually

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<v Speaker 1>is an acronym for America's Missing Colon of all things

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<v Speaker 1>broadcast emergency response AMBER. But it's also the namesake of

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<v Speaker 1>a girl, I think a nine year old named Amber

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<v Speaker 1>Hagerman who lived in Arlington, Texas in nineteen ninety six.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, And we should probably tell you what an

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<v Speaker 2>AMBER alert is before we get into that sad story,

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<v Speaker 2>because if you're from abroad, you don't know that an

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<v Speaker 2>AMBER warning is when a child has gone missing and

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<v Speaker 2>they send out basically we'll see it's operated by the state,

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<v Speaker 2>but essentially almost always ends up being a nationwide alert

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<v Speaker 2>sent to highway billboards that are digital, sometimes lottery signs

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<v Speaker 2>that are digital and can be changed your cell phone,

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<v Speaker 2>on the television, and they just they get it out

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<v Speaker 2>in all these ways that hey, we're issuing this now

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<v Speaker 2>because you know, usually it's like this child is in

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<v Speaker 2>this kind of car and on a highway, and if

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<v Speaker 2>everyone keeps their eyes open, we may get lucky here

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<v Speaker 2>if everyone really pays attention for the next few hours.

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<v Speaker 1>That was a great definition of the amburlers.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I sort of went off on my

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<v Speaker 2>own thing, but I think everyone knows that the likelihood

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<v Speaker 2>of finding an abducted person or a missing person gets

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<v Speaker 2>less and less as time goes on. So those those

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<v Speaker 2>first that first hour is just so critical, even if

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<v Speaker 2>they can get out a warning that says there's a

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<v Speaker 2>Ford Taurus with this license plate and this kid is

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<v Speaker 2>in it, so keep your eyes.

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<v Speaker 1>Peeled exactly all right, Well, thanks for setting me up

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<v Speaker 1>for telling the tragic story of Amber Hagerman, but I

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<v Speaker 1>kind of have to now. Yeah, back in January of

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety six, Amber, who was, like I said, a

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<v Speaker 1>nine year old from Arlington, Texas, had gotten a bike

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<v Speaker 1>for Christmas and was riding it around near her grandmother's house.

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<v Speaker 1>And there was an abandoned wind Dixie grocery store the

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<v Speaker 1>parking lot of which she was riding around, riding her

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<v Speaker 1>bike around, and there was a local man, a seventy

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<v Speaker 1>eight year old man named Jimmy Kevell, who was watching

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<v Speaker 1>a ride her bike. And Jimmy Kevill apparently is the

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<v Speaker 1>lone witness to Amber's abduction. He said that a black

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<v Speaker 1>pickup truck showed up and a white or Hispanic man

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<v Speaker 1>in his twenties or thirties got out and took Amber

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<v Speaker 1>forcibly with him, and there was a nationwide search for Amber.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not exactly sure what it was about. That case

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<v Speaker 1>that got everybody, but her disappearance launched a nationwide search

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<v Speaker 1>pre amber alert, and tragically, three i think three days later,

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<v Speaker 1>dog walker found her body in a creek. Because of

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<v Speaker 1>the need, it showed to coordinate to get the word

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<v Speaker 1>out at the Dallas Fort Worth Area Police Department's law

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<v Speaker 1>enforcement got together with the broadcasters from the area and said, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>let's figure out like a basic way to get the

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<v Speaker 1>word out for abducted children, like asap. Let's figure out

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<v Speaker 1>a standardized way to do that. And they came up

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<v Speaker 1>with the Amber alert. I think within ten months they

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<v Speaker 1>had the system up and running.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, which is a great thing. Sadly, they it's a

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<v Speaker 2>case it remains unsolved, but let's take a break and

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<v Speaker 2>we can get back and talk a little bit about

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<v Speaker 2>the specifics of how they work right after this, all right,

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<v Speaker 2>So I mentioned that it was up to the state,

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<v Speaker 2>which is true. Every state has their own criteria for

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<v Speaker 2>issuing amber alerts and how it goes down. But the DOJ,

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<v Speaker 2>the Department of Justice, did issue guidelines about recommendations that

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<v Speaker 2>kind of break down into five categories for different reasons.

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<v Speaker 2>The first one is law enforcement has a reasonable belief

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<v Speaker 2>that a child was abducted. This one's pretty obvious on

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<v Speaker 2>what that means. The second one is law enforcement believes

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<v Speaker 2>the child will suffer serious bodily harm or worse. And

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<v Speaker 2>the reason they have these criteria is because there are

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<v Speaker 2>missing children all the time and not all of them.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, very few of them get the actual Amber alert.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is to sort of qualify for that specific case.

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<v Speaker 2>And the bodily harm one is the need for just

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<v Speaker 2>a timely response that they have information where they believe,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, in a lot of times it could be

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<v Speaker 2>like a relative that has them that's very upset or

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<v Speaker 2>has made threats and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but I think the the crux or the underlying

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<v Speaker 1>gist of AMBER alerts is abduction by a stranger, because

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<v Speaker 1>that's the greatest danger typically that an abducted child can

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<v Speaker 1>be in. There's also a standard that most states have

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<v Speaker 1>adopted seventeen or younger. They're like, let's not put pronouncements

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<v Speaker 1>on what's a child or not. We can all just

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<v Speaker 1>basically agree anybody under eighteen as a child and if

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<v Speaker 1>they meet this criteria, then we're going to issue an

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<v Speaker 1>Amber alert. And then the last part is and this

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<v Speaker 1>is a step that not everybody takes, but it seems

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<v Speaker 1>very critical. You want to take that information that you

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<v Speaker 1>send out on the Amber alert and enter it in

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<v Speaker 1>the National Crime Information Center system, flag it as a

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<v Speaker 1>child abduction, and all of a sudden, the AMBER alert

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<v Speaker 1>will go from a local or a state or a

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<v Speaker 1>regional thing all the way out to national like nationwide.

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<v Speaker 1>Law enforcement all around the country will have an alert

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<v Speaker 1>that this kid has been abducted, so be on the

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<v Speaker 1>lookout for them. But not all states have that as

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<v Speaker 1>part of their criteria contingency plan, which is supper.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure, there was one we missed. The other

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<v Speaker 2>criteria is there's enough detail about the appearance and the

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<v Speaker 2>abduction of the child so they won't issue an Amber

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<v Speaker 2>alert if it's just like like I don't know what

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<v Speaker 2>my kid was wearing, I don't know where she last was.

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<v Speaker 2>I really have no information. They have to have pretty

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<v Speaker 2>concrete information about what the child was wearing at the time,

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<v Speaker 2>what they looked like at the time, and where they

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<v Speaker 2>might have been adducted, and especially if there's anything like

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<v Speaker 2>you know, it was a black pickup truck or it

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<v Speaker 2>was it was definitely my brother in law and this

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<v Speaker 2>is his car. And license plate number, and on the

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<v Speaker 2>seventeen and younger thing, because it's different states. Some states

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<v Speaker 2>may have a guideline that it's let's say fifteen, but

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<v Speaker 2>they agree to honor the rule of the state that

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<v Speaker 2>the abduction took place in.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, if the amber alert makes it across state lines, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>So there's I said that some people are are critical

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<v Speaker 1>of not necessarily Amber alerts, but just alerts in general.

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<v Speaker 1>Because if you're woken up at three am, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>an Amber alert, a silver alert, which is used to

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<v Speaker 1>alert people of a missing person with dementia Alzheimer's purple alert,

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<v Speaker 1>is one for an adult with cognitive impairment who's going missing,

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<v Speaker 1>it's all the same to you. So there's a part

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<v Speaker 1>of issuing amber alerts. And one of the reasons why

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<v Speaker 1>the criteria is so strict is you don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>get people used to those alerts. You want it to

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<v Speaker 1>be a big deal when your phone goes off with

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<v Speaker 1>an Amber alert at three in the morning, that everybody

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<v Speaker 1>takes the time to wake up and look, that's that's crucial.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a crucial part of it because if everybody becomes

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<v Speaker 1>desensitized to it, that's a problem. On the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>there are people who are like, there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people who need to have their their the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>they're missing be alerted out to everybody that just don't

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<v Speaker 1>meet the criteria of the amberl alert. And so there's

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<v Speaker 1>other kinds of alerts. Someone's Everbridge alert, which is it's

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<v Speaker 1>cases where children have been targeted or abducted or gone missing,

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<v Speaker 1>but they don't meet the criteria of the Amber alert.

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<v Speaker 1>Like say, you know for a fact the child was

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<v Speaker 1>abducted and that they're probably in danger, but you don't have,

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<v Speaker 1>like you said, the description of what they were wearing

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<v Speaker 1>or what kind of car they were forced into, you

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<v Speaker 1>might not issue an Amber alert. And in fact, in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty, there were three hundred and sixty five thousand

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<v Speaker 1>entries that year in the National Crime Information Center system

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<v Speaker 1>for missing kids, but two hundred of them met the

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<v Speaker 1>criteria for AMBER alerts to be issued. So there's a

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<v Speaker 1>weird balancing act that you have to go through that

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think anybody's figured out yet, But that's why

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<v Speaker 1>that criteria is supposed to be so rigidly adhered to.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and from what I've read, it's not like there's

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<v Speaker 2>any it's just about the alert, not like necessarily how

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<v Speaker 2>hard the cops may be working to try and find

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<v Speaker 2>this missing kid. It's just a very specific criteria because

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<v Speaker 2>I think when it meets that criteria, that means there's

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<v Speaker 2>a decent likelihood that if you act fast in the

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<v Speaker 2>next few hours, like I said at the very beginning,

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<v Speaker 2>then somebody might see something that could really help. Because

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<v Speaker 2>we have all this information, I feel like most of

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<v Speaker 2>the ones I've seen have been family members, which is interesting.

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<v Speaker 2>I had no idea that it was supposedly for stranger abduction,

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<v Speaker 2>but they've done a lot of good work. From nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>ninety six to twenty twenty three, Amber specifically Amber alerts

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<v Speaker 2>have contributed to the recovery of one and eighty six children,

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<v Speaker 2>and then other wireless emergency alerts rescued one hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>sixty five and over that that may not seem like

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<v Speaker 2>a high number over that period of time, but if

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<v Speaker 2>it's literally the success of a single signal being sent

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<v Speaker 2>out finding eleven hundred and eighty six children, that's amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. One of the stories I've seen bandied about by

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<v Speaker 1>pro Amber alert people just basically everybody that there was

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<v Speaker 1>like a kid who had an amber alert miss or

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<v Speaker 1>issued and was recovered within like less than thirty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>because of the amber alert. So it definitely does work.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, if they're only issuing two hundred a year

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<v Speaker 1>and they in seven years they managed to cover almost

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<v Speaker 1>twelve hundred or thirteen hundred children, that's a pretty good

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<v Speaker 1>track record.

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<v Speaker 2>Really.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure, you got anything else, I.

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<v Speaker 2>Got nothing else. Keep that alert on. It's distressing. But

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<v Speaker 2>and if you're you know, if you're on the road

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<v Speaker 2>at the time and you see something like that, like

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<v Speaker 2>you do your part. That's what they're looking for, is

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<v Speaker 2>people to really keep their eyes peeled and be vigilant.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and if you're a state legislator, maybe take the

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<v Speaker 1>time to really sit there and see if your state

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<v Speaker 1>has too many or is issuing too many of these

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<v Speaker 1>things and is in danger of desensitizing the public because

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<v Speaker 1>you do not want to do that. And of course,

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<v Speaker 1>since I just spoke directly as state legislators, that means

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<v Speaker 1>short stuff is out.

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