Citation

Griffin T, Williams JH, Kadleck C. Crim. Justice Policy Rev. 2022; 33(1): 23-44.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/08874034211026366

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Prior research based on limited datasets has suggested AMBER Alerts do little to prevent harm to child abduction victims. However, to investigate the possibility of recent improvements in AMBER Alert performance, the authors examine a sample of 472 AMBER Alerts issued over a 3-year period from 2012 to 2015, using available media accounts to code for relevant case information. The findings are consistent with prior research questioning AMBER Alert effectiveness: The crucial variable predicting Alert outcomes is abductor relationship to the victim, not AMBER Alert "performance." Furthermore, cases involving "successful" AMBER Alerts are comparable on measurable factors to AMBER Alert cases where the child was recovered safely but the Alert played no role, suggesting both categories of cases involved little real risk. Implications for interpreting the viability of the AMBER Alert concept, public discourse regarding its contribution to child safety, and larger implications for crime control policy are discussed.

[[Wikipedia: An Amber Alert (alternatively styled AMBER alert) or a child abduction emergency alert (SAME code: CAE) is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. The system originated in the United States.

AMBER is a backronym standing for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. It was created in reference to Amber Rene Hagerman, a girl who was abducted and later found murdered in 1996.]]

Language: en

Keywords

AMBER Alert; child abduction; criminal justice policy