Posted on: Friday, February 18, 2005

Statewide Amber Alert plan approved

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i yesterday became the final state to implement a statewide Amber Alert plan designed to quickly recover children who have been abducted.

The state's MAILE AMBER Alert is a collaborative effort of the four county police departments, various state and federal agencies, as well as the media. The program is intended to issue alerts through the media and on highway message signs soon after a child is abducted.

Each of the counties had developed its own alert system, but the partnership will link the agencies and media in an effort to speed up the search for missing children statewide, said Lisa Ginoza, first deputy attorney general.

The MAILE AMBER Alert is an acronym for Minor Abducted In Life-threatening Emergency and America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. It is named after two girls — Maile Gilbert in Hawai'i and Amber Hagerman in Texas — who were kidnapped and murdered.

Since the Amber Alert began in 1996, nearly 200 children have been recovered safely. None of the Hawai'i counties has issued a MAILE Alert.

In 1985, 6-year-old Maile Gilbert was abducted from a Kailua party and her body was found near Ka'ena Point. Her killer is serving a life term in prison.

Yesterday, Tip Gilbert, Maile's father, thanked the agencies involved for implementing the alert program and for dedicating it to his daughter's memory.

"In the last 20 years, it's taken a lot of love between my wife and I and my family and our friends in Hawai'i to survive," Gilbert said. "I hope no other parent ever has to go through this, and if a child is missing, I'm sure that the MAILE/AMBER alert will help find this child."

Honolulu police Chief Boisse Correa said that there have been 23 children reported missing this year on O'ahu and all have been found safe.

"When we get in these situations we need timely, correct information and we need to disseminate and share this information with as many people as possible," Correa said. "With this program, we have that in place."

Under the new plan, an alert will be issued if the case meets certain criteria. Ginoza said the victim must be 17 years old or younger and believed to be in a life-threatening situation.

Police also must have "useful" information, such as a description of the suspect, type of vehicle used in the abduction, license plate number, and direction of travel, before enlisting the public's help.

Once police determine an alert should be issued, the state Civil Defense Emergency Alert System will be activated and participating television and radio stations will interrupt programming to broadcast the alert. The Department of Transportation also will use its highway message signs to alert drivers.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8025.