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About the Houston Regional Amber Plan
 

PURPOSE OF THE AMBER PLAN

The Houston Regional Amber Plan is designed to help find missing children believed to be abducted.  The program is a cooperative public service effort between local law enforcement, news media outlets, Amber Plan business partners, and the public. 

The plan was developed by the Houston Police Department in cooperation with the Houston Local Emergency Communications Committee, the Harris County Office of Emergency Management, and NewsRadio KTRH-AM 740 (the local primary Emergency Alert System station for the 13-county Houston region).  

IF YOUR CHILD IS MISSING

Under the Houston Regional Amber Plan, parents of a missing or abducted child should immediately contact their local police or sheriff’s department to file a Missing Person Report. 

          More tips for Parents if your child is missing

Under Texas law, if a child is missing and believed to be in danger, there is no 24-hour waiting period.  The law enforcement agency will immediately enter information about the missing child into the Texas Missing Person’s Clearinghouse and the National Crime Information Center’s Missing Person File.

Participating law enforcement agencies can also request an Amber Alert if their investigation determines that the child’s disappearance meets the Amber Alert criteria.

CRITERIA FOR AMBER ALERTS

In order to activate the Houston Regional Amber Plan, four criteria must be met:

1.      The missing child must be 17 years of age or younger and the law enforcement agency believes the child has been abducted (unwillingly taken from their environment without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian).

2.      The agency believes the missing child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death

3.      A law enforcement investigation has taken place that verified the abduction or eliminated alternative explanations.

4.      Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the child, suspect, and/or the suspect’s vehicle.

Based on the above criteria, the following situations do NOT qualify for Amber Plan activation:

1.      Missing child believed to have run away from home

2.      Missing child taken by a non-custodial relative in a child custody case

3.      Missing adult (age 18 or older)

4.      Police search for other criminals (murder suspect, bank robber, etc.)

TECHNOLOGY TO RECOVER KIDS (TRAK)

A total of 36 law enforcement agencies in the six-county Amber Plan area (Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Montgomery, and Waller counties) are presently equipped with a TRAK (Technology to Recover Abducted Kids) computer system.

A recent photo of the missing child is scanned into the TRAK computer system, along with the child’s description and any suspect information.  The TRAK Abduction Report is quickly distributed by fax or modem to other law enforcement agencies, business partners, and news media outlets in the Houston area.

AMBER ALERT PROCEDURES

Participating law enforcement agencies can log on to a secure Amber Plan website or send an Amber Alert fax to KTRH. News editors at KTRH will re-write the website or fax request into an Amber Alert message for immediate broadcast on KTRH. Depending on the circumstances, KTRH can also activate the Emergency Alert System to request other radio, TV, and cable outlets re-broadcast the Amber Alert.

In addition to activating EAS, KTRH will also use e-mail and broadcast fax technology to distribute the Amber Alert to other participating radio, TV stations, cable systems, law enforcement agencies and Amber Plan business partners within the six-county area (Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Montgomery, and Waller counties).

Participating media outlets can interrupt their normal programming or supplement their own news bulletins and newscasts with Amber Alert information. 

Television stations and cable systems can display the Amber Alert logo and transcribe the Amber Alert message into a character-generated crawl across the TV screen.

Amber Plan business partners (such as bus, taxi, and delivery services and corporate sponsors) will notify their own employees traveling in the area to look for the missing child or suspect’s vehicle. 

When available, the child’s photo will be distributed to television, cable systems, and print media outlets.  The child’s photo and Amber Alert message will also be posted on the Amber Plan website (http://www.amber-plan.net/) for the public to view.  

Participating law enforcement agencies, media outlets, and Amber Plan business partners can also link their own websites to the Amber Plan website.    

If updated information becomes available, an Amber Update would be similarly distributed to law enforcement agencies and media outlets.  Once the child is found, an Amber Cancellation message would be issued. 

WHAT THE PUBLIC SHOULD DO

The Amber Alert message encourages the public to look for the missing child or suspect, but take no action themselves.  Instead anyone who thinks they saw the child or suspect should immediately call the law enforcement agency telephone number included in the Amber Alert. 

The extensive media coverage will also encourage the suspect to immediately release the child for fear of being caught.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Houston Regional Amber Plan is administered by the Houston Local Emergency Communications Committee (LECC).  The LECC is appointed by the Federal Communications Commission to develop and implement the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for a 13-county region of southeast Texas. 

Every Amber Alert case will be reviewed by the Houston LECC’s Amber Plan Subcommittee composed of representatives of participating media outlets and law enforcement agencies.  

Houston Regional Amber Plan Board Members

For more information, media outlets, businesses, and the public should contact Beth Alberts, CEO, Gabriel's Gifts, at 713.521.2694 or via email: balberts@mrchouston.com or Bryan Erickson, News Director at KTRH-AM 740, 713-630-3598.

Law enforcement agencies should contact Captain Richard Holland, Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division at 713-308-3598.

Bryan Erickson, Beth Alberts, Captain Richard Holland

Updated Apr 23, 2002