New Amber Alert Initiative Launched Thursday - National
New Amber Alert Initiative Launched Thursday ( Air Date: 3/9/2006 ) US Senator Blanche Lincoln Thursday helped launch a new initiative to inform professional truck drivers when an AMBER Alert is issued in the first crucial hours after a child has been abducted. "One of the greatest fears a parent can experience is when a child either goes missing or is abducted," Lincoln said. "The safety of our children should be our top priority and this important new initiative will give local law enforcement officials another set of eyes on our roadways, rest stops and interstate highways in the search for abducted children." As the founder and Co-Chair of the Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children, Lincoln participated in a Capitol Hill press conference to help announce the "AMBER Alert Highway Network." The initiative, sponsored by QUALCOMM, Inc., the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the American Trucking Association (ATA), alerts truck drivers within targeted geographic regions through wireless on-board technology when an AMBER Alert is issued. The wireless alerts will contain details of the crime and information that may lead to the safer return of abducted children. The "AMBER Alert Highway Network" is the nation’s first initiative to direct AMBER Alerts to professional truck drivers who are near the Alert area. NCMEC, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies nationwide, will forward AMBER Alerts to QUALCOMM, which will then send information to the trucks of participating carriers. At today’s press conference, Lincoln commended Arkansas-based corporation, Wal-Mart, that, since 2003, has used its on-board technology to alert its national trucking fleet of missing children whose cases might not meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert. Lincoln pointed to Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods as two examples of Arkansas companies that will also participate in the new "AMBER Alert Highway Network" program. "The AMBER Alert Highway Network is a great example of government and private industry working together to help protect our greatest blessings– our children," Lincoln said. "With all of us working together to address the crisis of abducted children, we can give law enforcement yet another tool to protect our children and increase the number of success stories of missing children who are returned safely." http://www.kark.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=5971