Amber Alert Runs Into Snags In Bay Area [9-2-02]

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Monday, September 2, 2002

[Maedhros]

News Amber Alert Runs Into Snags In Bay Area This page was last updated on Monday, September 2, 2002

From the San Francisco Chronicle SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 1, 2002 - With a spate of child abductions putting California's fledgling Amber Alert system to the test, authorities acknowledged Friday that there are glitches that need to be worked out. On a day when another Amber Alert was issued -- this one for a Bakersfield girl believed kidnapped by her mother -- officials said almost 20 percent of the freeway signs in the Bay Area that flash "child abduction" messages were unreadable or didn't work. One sign was turned off when a California Highway Patrol officer feared it was causing motorists to slow to a crawl and creating a traffic hazard. Some also questioned whether activating the Amber Alert is appropriate when a child is abducted by a parent, as was believed to be the case Friday. "All this is a work in progress," CHP Sgt. Wayne Ziese said. "In the days and weeks ahead, all the involved parties will continue to make this the best possible tool to recover these children who are abducted." The Amber Alert system, which is being used in some form in more than a dozen states, was adopted in California after the slaying of Samantha Runnion in Orange County in July. TV and radio stations broadcast information about kidnappings during the alerts in addition to the freeway signs being turned on. At least five Amber Alerts have been issued in California this month. The CHP, which helps oversee the program, usually issues alerts when there is a confirmed kidnapping in which the child is in danger and there is a detailed description of any vehicle involved. POSSIBLE OVERLOAD According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Amber Alert system has led to the recovery of 27 children nationwide, including four in California. But every day, almost 2,000 children are reported missing in the United States. "This alert should not go off 2,000 times a day or the system will make the public unresponsive," said Joann Donnellan, who manages the Amber Alert system for the national center in Alexandria, Va. Donnellan said the system should not be used for runaway or parental abduction cases unless the "life of the child is in grave danger." Authorities said that was the case Friday in the disappearance of 9-year- old Cierra Walden. Police suspect she was kidnapped by her mother, 50-year-old Pamela Walden. Authorities said Walden has a history of mental problems and lost custody of Cierra this month. She fled with her daughter Thursday during a supervised visit at the Kern County Department of Human Services. Walden and her daughter were believed to be in a dark blue, 1999 two-door Hyundai Accent. Early Friday, the CHP turned on freeway signs throughout the Bay Area and state, displaying the words "DK BLUE HYUNDAI," the Accent's license plate -- 4SHV526 -- and the phone number for Bakersfield police, (661) 327-7111. Truckers spotted the car Friday afternoon and tried to stop it on Interstate 5 near the Grapevine grade, south of Bakersfield, but couldn't keep up with it, the CHP said. In the Bay Area, several of the signs alerting motorists to the abduction were at least partly unreadable. On one, on Interstate 280 in San Francisco, the last two digits of the phone number were missing. In most of those cases, "we just turn it off," said CHP Officer Virgil Aguilar, who helps staff the joint Caltrans-CHP Traffic Management Center in Oakland. OUT OF ORDER About 15 of the 88 freeway signs in the Bay Area are out of service for reasons ranging from dead bulbs to electricity problems caused by bad wiring to damage suffered in car crashes. Statewide, there are about 500 signs, all originally designed to update motorists about traffic and weather conditions. "Usually we get 90 to 95 percent of them working. We would always like to have 100 percent," Aguilar said. Even the working signs, however, can cause problems. At 7:23 a.m. Friday at the height of the morning commute, an exasperated CHP officer asked his superiors to turn off one of the signs near the Cordelia truck scales on westbound Interstate 80 in Solano County. Too many people were slowing down to read the signs, which flashed information in two parts, one showing the license plate and the lengthy phone number and the other giving the car description. "Quite probably there might have been fender-benders across the state, as folks want to get involved," Ziese said. Later in the day, Bakersfield police asked the CHP to turn off the signs pending additional information. Then, hours later, police asked for the signs to be reactivated. It isn't just a matter of flicking a switch. When an Amber Alert is issued, it might take as much as two hours to activate each of the signs, one at a time. "Obviously, it would be nice to turn them all on at once," Ziese said. In the overall scheme of things, however, the Amber Alert system is a great addition for the state, Ziese said. "No matter what road bumps we've gone through, it already has proved to be successful," he said. "Is it worth it because a child's life is saved? Yes." Read the complete article at the San Francisco Chronicle

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[Maedhros]

Interesting stuff, this.

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Rest of article:

Airwaves aid against abductions

According to the Justice Department, the first three hours after a child is abducted are the most critical. The voluntary Amber Alert partnership between police and broadcasters can activate an emergency bulletin when a child is missing so community members can help.

Parent or caretaker reports a missing child.

Police then decide the immediacy of issuing an alert based on the evidence of an abduction.

They create an Amber Alert, including descriptions and photos of the child, the suspected abductor, the vehicle used, and any other useful information.

The alert is sent over the Emergency Alert System so that it can broadcast on television, radio and highway signs.

Source: Compiled from AP wire reports