Nine year old Amber Hagerman was riding her bike in broad daylight on the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store on January 13, 1996, when she was pulled from her bike and placed, kicking and screaming, into a pick-up by a suspect who is still unidentified. There was only one known witness to the offense. On January 17, 1996, at 11:39 PM, a man walking his dog spotted a body that was determined to be Amber’s in a creek near his apartment complex. Massive media coverage resulted in thousands of tips called in to the Arlington Police Department before the body was found and in the few weeks after the body recovery. The department realized it needed a better way to handle distribution of the suspect information and receipt of the influx of data.

In December 1996, the Arlington Police Department and the Dallas- Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers established The Amber Plan. It was intended to provide radio stations with an immediate alert of confirmed child abductions. All other agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area have since joined the effort, and it has also expanded to include local television stations. The plan itself is simple: two radio stations coordinate receipt of information from a department via fax to a confidential number. The stations verify the legitimacy and accuracy of the information with the department. The information is then distributed to all participating media outlets. An emergency-toned broadcast is made of the details on the missing child; any suspect information, and the circumstances of the child’s disappearance. Departments provide a telephone number for members of the public to call in information. The Amber Plan has been credited with assisting in solving six child abductions.

Two caveats are necessary: 1) Departments should not put out information until they have sufficient staff in place to answer the flood of phone calls they will begin receiving almost immediately. 2) Before establishing such a plan, departments should carefully consider the scope of their desired plan. Media outlets have neither time nor interest in broadcasting emergency "be on the lookout" type messages for every child whose whereabouts are unknown by its parents. Worried parents always fear the worst, however, and will press hard to have their child’s missing status broadcast. Some departments in this area tried to use the plan when there was no reason to believe the child was endangered, and some media outlets threatened to withdraw from the plan. The managers revisited the plan. While still limited to situations where there is reason to believe there is danger, the Amber Plan was expanded beyond the original criteria of "stranger abductions." The criteria now are:

• When a child 15 years of age or younger, or an individual under proven mental or physical disability, is abducted and there is reason to believe the victim is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death; and

• There is information available to disseminate to the public, which could assist in the safe recovery of the victim and/or the apprehension of a suspect.

Arlington Police Media Liaison Officer Dee Anderson has met with U.S. Congressional members and has assisted central Arkansas, Oklahoma and other Texas cities in developing similar plans. Interested persons should contact Officer Anderson (817-459-5624 or dbanderson@aol.com) or Accreditation Manager, Ms. Jonna Short at (817-459-5709 or jshort12@airmail.net).