About Amber Alert. 

The AMBER Alert program was created as a result of the 1996 abduction of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas. A stranger kidnapped her while she was riding her bike near her grandparents’ house, and she was discovered murdered four days later. For those four days there was a massive manhunt underway that relied heavily upon television news and radio stations covering the story and capturing the community’s attention. Although a neighbour provided police with a possible suspect description, a man walking his dog days later found her body in a creek bed. News and radio were very effective in alerting and notifying the public, accordingly the subsequent reliance on the media in the distribution of AMBER Alerts today. The world of technical communications has expanded greatly in the years since Amber’s abduction, and today, AMBER Alerts can be broadcast through the Emergency Broadcast network, through traffic signs, wireless phone alerts, e-mails and web portals.

2003 - President George W. Bush signed the AMBER Alert legislation making it a national program. The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) guideline was put into place, acting as an alert distribution system for all states to use. This system was originally designed as a weather alerting technology system that sends voice recordings to radio and television stations. The same system is still used today and is now called the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Some states still use the EAS as their Primary Alerting System. Other states have adopted more technologically advanced and quicker alert distribution systems, such as The AMBER Alert Web Portal.

2005 - First in Australia, Queensland, the Child Abduction Alert system has been introduced to help police quickly locate children who have been abducted and return them home safely. The alert will be activated by police when a missing child under the age of 17 has been abducted and the child is at risk of serious harm or death. Other States are expected to release dates.

 
2006 – A new Child Rescue Alert (CRA) scheme,in England and Wales will contact the media at the earliest stage of a suspected child abduction. Text messages will also be sent out to members of the public. Senior officers say the public can act as the "eyes and ears of the police" to help finding missing children. CRA's will be sent out if the missing person is under 18 and if there is "a reasonable belief" they have been kidnapped, abducted or are in "imminent danger of serious harm or death".  As well as public appeals from the media, members of the public who register their mobile phones as part of the scheme will receive CRA text messages. The scheme has been piloted by a number of forces but has been rolled out across all forces in England and Wales.

What information do all these 'alert systems' need?

Digital photographs - front head shot and side on (if available)
All files in digital format for instant emailing. 
DNA or fingerprints if recorded. 
Personal information such as height, skin colour, eye colour, hair style.