Posted on: Thursday, September 5, 2002
Officials discuss creation of Hawai'i 'Amber Alert'
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
Law enforcement, government and broadcasting officials met yesterday to discuss how to create a local "Amber Alert" that quickly notifies the public through radio and television broadcasts that a child has been kidnapped.
The state emergency communications committee, an arm of the Federal Communications Commission, met to discuss the possible creation of the "MAILE Alert," which would be similar to the Amber Alert programs in other states.
The local system would activate the Emergency Alert System normally used by Civil Defense officials to warn residents of impending disasters. Organizers say the concept is still in the planning stages and could take at least six months to set up.
The MAILE Alert — short for Minor Abducted in Life-Threatening Emergency — would have broadcasters providing a description of the missing child and suspected abductor.
The system would be dedicated to 6-year-old Maile Gilbert, who was abducted from a Kailua party in 1985 and found murdered shortly after.
Courtney Harrington, city Information Technology director, said a maximum of two minutes airtime on radio and television would be allowed on the Emergency Alert System. "We think the system is doable, but we first need to work out several details and questions," Harrington said.
Police would be responsible for activating the system and would set up stringent criteria on when to use it. Some requirements may include that the child be 10 years or younger, and in immediate danger.
The Amber Alert early warning system was created in Texas in 1996 after a 9-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered. Other states have since adopted similar programs since statistics show there is usually a two-hour delay in reporting an abduction, according to U. S. Justice Department officials. Statistics show that 74 percent of children murdered by nonfamily members are killed in the first three hours of the kidnapping, federal officials said.
