By Leslie Parrilla, The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- One of the police officers involved in the 1996 search for Amber Hagerman in Texas says the alert that bears her name is in danger of misuse.
Sgt. Mark Simpson, of the Arlington, Texas, police department, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that issuing Amber Alerts too often or without meeting all criteria will weaken their effect with the public.
“The long-term effect of abusing the system is that people would become as complacent as they do when they hear car alarms,” Simpson said.
Simpson led a task force searching for the 9-year-old girl, who was pulled from her bike and killed by a stranger. In the wake of her death, police and broadcasters joined to form the Amber alert system.
In Iowa, four of five of the Amber Alerts issued since the program began here in March 2003 involved child custody cases. Two of those -- in Davenport and Des Moines -- were issued without meeting all criteria.
“In the fog of information flow, that we were working in, alleged drug use, child care issues, not knowing who the mysterious person was, I authorized it,” Davenport Police Chief Michael Bladel said. “I accept all responsibility.”
The four criteria, developed by the U.S. Justice Department, are that an abduction has taken place; that the child is 17 or younger; that the child is in danger of serious injury or death; and that police have details about the abduction and descriptions of the child, the abductor and a vehicle.
In Des Moines, police said if they had taken a little more time to assess the case, they likely would not have issued the alert.
“If we had to do it again, we would probably take a little more time in confirming some information,” police Sgt. Tony Steverson said.
“If we’re wrong, we’re wrong, but our heart was in the right place,” he said. “We were trying to get this child back.”
For Joseph Floyd, police chief in Camden, S.C., meeting the criteria is not the only test when issuing an alert.
Floyd said he issued an alert in March without knowing whether there had been an abduction or whether the child was in danger.
“I’ll be honest with you. I’m the police chief in a small town, and you know who’s expectations I was trying to meet? The parents,” Floyd said. “They didn’t want to have a dead child to bury and I didn’t want that to happen.”
The 12-year-old boy, who had disappeared from school, was later found -- safe but upset after receiving a detention.
About 260,000 children are abducted across the nation each year, according to the Justice Department.
Raymon Cruz, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said such tailoring of the system, which results in frequent alerts, is exactly what erodes public interest.
With an average of 200 Amber Alerts issued each year, the concern is real, Cruz said.
“The public will become desensitized,” he said. “Just like listening to your radio. After a while you’ll start to turn to another station. You tune out.”
But Mel Griggs, police chief in Gering, Neb., has seen the other side of the argument. He chose not to issue an alert when a 15-year-old girl disappeared because there was no knowledge of an abduction.
The teenager was found dead the next day.
“There’s nothing worse than that thought that the child didn’t come home,” said Griggs, whose department was sued for $1 million. “I just hate to see the program jeopardized because somebody says, ‘Oh, here comes another Amber Alert, and it’s just another missing kid.”’
Simpson, too, has battle scars from not issuing alerts. He faced a barrage of criticism when a child was found dead several days after disappearing.
Simpson didn’t issue an alert because the situation didn’t meet all four criteria.
“If it doesn’t meet guidelines, I’m not going to do it,” he said.
The trade-off, he said, is preserving the public vigilance.
“If you don’t make those hard decisions, then you’re going to risk ... the effectiveness of the plan,” Simpson said. “You’re not always going to be 100 percent right.”
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More Information:
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com/
Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/
Code Amber: http://www.codeamber.org/