About AMBER Alert

Mission

The mission of the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) is to safely recover missing, endangered, or abducted children through the coordinated efforts of law enforcement, media, transportation, and other partners by using training and technology to enhance response capacities and capabilities and increase public participation.


AMBER Alerts are activated in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child. These alerts are broadcast through radio, TV, road signs, cellphones, and other data-enabled devices.

The AMBER Alert system is being used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian Country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 27 other countries.

As of December 31, 2023, 1,200 children have been recovered thanks to AMBER Alerts – 180 of them because of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs).

Most people will see AMBER Alerts directly from primary distribution and secondary distributors and do not require any additional steps. You may also choose to be notified of an AMBER Alert in the following ways: On Facebook: Visit facebook.com/AMBERAlert and “Like” the page to receive AMBER Alerts in your newsfeed. (Facebook also automatically notifies users near the location of an AMBER Alert.) On Twitter: Follow @AMBERAlert to receive rapid AMBER Alert notifications on your Twitter feed and share the alert with your followers.

Every successful AMBER Alert plan contains clearly defined activation criteria. These activation criteria, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice (amberalert.gov/guidelines.htm) are designed to promote a uniform, interoperable network of plans across the country and facilitated coordinated communication and sharing/dissemination of information.

Program Administration

Janell Rasmussen

Janell Rasmussen, Administrator

Curriculum, eLearning, Financials, Publications, Staffing & Websites

Jenniffer Price-Lehmann, Deputy Administrator, Budgeting & Financials

Bryon Fassett

Byron Fassett, Deputy Administrator, Associate & Curriculum Development

Bonnie Ferenbach, Program Manager, eLearning, Websites & Publications

Cathy Delapaz, Project Coordinator, Curriculum Development

Denise Gee Peacock, Project Coordinator, Publications, Websites & eLearning

Child Abduction Response Teams (CARTs)

Derek VanLuchene, Project Coordinator, Child Abduction Response Teams (CARTs)

Yesenia

Yesenia "Jesi" Leon-Baron, Project Coordinator, Child Abduction Response Teams (CARTs) & International Projects

AMBER Alert in Indian Country

Tyesha M. Wood, Program Manager, AMBER Alert in Indian Country

Valerie Bribiescas

Valerie Bribiescas, Project Coordinator, AMBER Alert in Indian Country

Brittni Farmakes, Project Coordinator, AMBER Alert in Indian Country

Logistics & Operations

Jill Nysse, Project Coordinator, Logistics & Operations

mishelle bowen

Mishelle Bowen, Administrative Assistant IV, Logistics & Operations

Meet the Regional Liaisons

Joan Collins, AATTAP Region 1 Liaison

Gus Paidousis

Gus Paidousis, AATTAP Region 2 Liaison

Chuck Fleeger, AATTAP Region 3 Liaison

Josie Sabori, Region 4 Liaision

Josefina “Josie” Sabori, AATTAP Region 4 Liaison

Carri Gordon

Carri Gordon, AATTAP Region 5 Liaison

History of the AMBER Alert initiative

The AMBER Alert System began in Dallas-Fort Worth when broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children. AMBER stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. The acronym was created as a legacy to 9- year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered. Other states and communities began setting up their own AMBER Alert plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.

From 1996 through 2001, the progress on developing and implementing AMBER plans throughout the country was slow to develop; at the end of 2001, only four states had statewide AMBER plans.

In 2002, the first-ever White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children took place, and AMBER Alert became nationally focused. In conjunction with the conference, the President requested that the U.S. Attorney General appoint the first National AMBER Alert Coordinator. Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs was appointed the first National AMBER Alert Coordinator.