Amber Alert Plan in Houston

Amber Alert Plan in Houston

On August 14, 2002, little one-month-old Nancy Chaves, of Abilene, Texas, was found, more than 100 miles away in Quanah. Paula Lynn Roach, 24, had claimed that little Nancy was her new baby, but as she showed the infant off at her place of work, some co-workers began suspicious. An "Amber Alert" had been issued only 12 hours earlier, telling of an infant girl kidnapped from a Wal-Mart parking lot while her mother placed a shopping cart in the cart corral, only ten feet away. Roach's co-workers suspected that Nancy's baby might actually be the kidnapped infant (How Stuff Works).

As Roach sped away with the infant, Nancy's mother saw what was happening and grabbed hold of Roach's car. Dragged 30 feet, passers by heard her scream, came to her aid, and reported the incident to police. The police immediately issued an Amber Alert, reporting a child kidnapped, and requested that all officials and private citizens keep a lookout for the little child (How Stuff Works).

The warning system that returned Nancy Chavez to her rightful mother so quickly was named after nine-year-old Amber Hagerman, who disappeared while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor of the child actually saw her pulled off her bike and taken away (Gabriel's Gifts). Four days later, after the child's body was found, a citizen suggested to a local radio station that the media should make announcements about kidnapped children, using a warning system like the one used to warn of bad weather (Gabriel's Gifts).

Experts explain that investigating a child abduction presents special challenges. The great majority of children are abducted by family members, but for those like Nancy Chavez and Amber Hagerman, taken by strangers, the police often have little information with which to work. They note that often two ours or more may pass before the child is reported missing, and that three out of four are murdered within three hours of the kidnapping. Because of this very narrow window of time, special measures must be used if these children are to be rescued in time (Gabriel's Gifts).

Aware of the need, the Dallas Association of Radio Managers led the way to form the first Amber Alert System for their city. The system was launched in July of 1997. The country now has 88 Amber Alert plans (not always under that name) located in municipalities. The plans have been credited with saving over forty-five children so far (Gabriel's Gifts).

The Houston Regional Amber Plan, or HRAP, is organized as a cooperative public service administered by the organization "Gabriel's Gifts." A regional effort, HRAP serves 5 million people, covers 12,000 square miles, and includes thirteen counties including Austin, Chambers, Colorado, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Wharton (Gabriel's Gifts). HRAP is organized to immediately notify the media so the information can be broadcast to all area residents via both radio and television.

HRAP is organized to work carefully but efficiently. To generate an Amber Alert, a law enforcement agency first establishes that the missing person meets the criteria. Working quickly, a local, state or federal law enforcement agency verifies that certain circumstances exist:

the missing child is under 18 years old the law enforcement agency believes an abduction has occurred it seems likely that the child may be at immediate risk for physical harm the agency has enough information to give to the media to help find the child there is no other credible explanation to explain the child's absence (Klaas Kids).

The agency then quickly notifies the Texas Department of Public Safety with the information they have. They in turn issue the Amber Alert, which is broadcast using the system of communications and broadcast that have already been established as the "Emergency Alert System." This is what has made it so easy for communities to establish Amber Alert systems: officials and broadcast organizations have already worked together for decades to make sure that radio and television could alert people to dangerous situations. Once the Amber Alert System has been set up by local authorities, reporting a missing child, or information about that child, is as easy as dialing 9-1-1 (Klaas Kids).

While it is possible that the Chavez infant would have been returned to her mother safely, since the people who knew the abductor were skeptical about Roach's claim that the child was her own, the issuance of an Amber Alert made is both more likely that the infant would be found safe and that people would know to report their suspicions. As soon as someone called about Roach's new "daughter," the information was fed into the Amber Alert System. Since it was issued on a statewide basis and because the Amber Alert system gives such cases the prominence and urgency they need, the law enforcement officers in Quanah realized that this baby might be Nancy Chavez.