As part of a continued effort to foster public involvement with area law enforcement efforts, officials with the Missouri State Highway Patrol will be promoting Amber Alert Awareness Day on Sunday, Jan. 13.

Lt. John Hotz said the goal of all law enforcement agencies was to re-emphasize how vital the Amber Alert system is to quickly locating missing children. The primary mode of public awareness this year, Hotz said, was an Amber Alert-themed poster contest for fifth-grade students from schools across the state. The winning poster will be part of a national display held in Washington, D.C., Hotz said.

“We try to bring the focus to the Amber Alert System and how it is used to locate missing children,” Hotz said. “We hope by doing this it opens up communication with students, teachers and parents to talk to them about potential dangers.”

Hotz said that several Amber Alerts had been issued in Missouri since the program’s inception in 1993 and that it maintained a 100 percent success rate. Hotz said that success was directly related to rapid dissemination of information as well as cooperation among law enforcement agencies and residents.

“If we can get the message out in two or three hours, the chances of finding the child are much greater,” Hotz said. Capt. Frank Hunter said the Platte County Sheriff’s Office also got involved when an alert was issued.

“We get notified immediately when an alert is issued,” Hunter said. “The information then goes out to the patrol officers and to other agencies.”

Hunter said an Amber Alert had never been issued for a missing child in Platte County, but a few cases came close to that level. According to the official Amber Alert Web site, there are specific guidelines that dictate when an alert can be issued. The criteria include having a witness to the abduction, descriptive information of the child; the child must be 17 years old or younger and be at risk of serious injury or death.

Hunter said that when an alert was issued, residents could play a vital role in finding the missing child by simply being aware of the provided information.

“Keep your eyes out when an alert is issued,” Hunter said. “Citizens’ eyes are a very valuable resource to the county.”

Amber Alert Usage

Number of Amber Alerts issued in the past five years

in Missouri:

2003 — five activations involving nine children

2004 — eight activations involving 12 children

2005 — six activations involving six children

2006 — 10 activations involving 12 children

2007 — five activations involving five children

For more information about Amber Alert and tips for keeping your children safe, visit www.amberalert.com.

Staff writer Jared Hoffmann can be reached at 389-6636 or jaredhoffmann@npgco.com.

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