What are AMBER Alerts?
AMBER stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response” and was created in 1997 when broadcasters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. President Bush authorized the national AMBER Alert program as part of the PROTECT Act signed in 2003, formally establishing the federal government’s role in the AMBER Alert program and appointing the Department of Justice as the agency responsible for coordinating AMBER Alerts on a national level. The Department of Justice has officially partnered the NCMEC, authorizing it as the agent that coordinates and disseminates AMBER Alerts to secondary distributors including wireless service providers. To date, AMBER Alerts have been credited with the successful recovery of more than 200 children. Help Find Abducted Children Verizon Wireless customers who opt-in can receive free Wireless AMBER Alerts™, short text messages with information about abducted children. Wireless
