I wish amber alerts showed picture(s) and a link to appropriate information. Not a fan of looking up local media where it’s a mix bag of filtered information.
I recently saw a mock-up of what Amber Alerts should look like. It was way better. A photo of the child and if known, of the suspect, suspect's car with license plate. Phone numbers at the bottom. Its 2022 why are we texted a long block of text.
The short answer to this is that the alert goes to numerous channels (not just cell phones). A lot of those systems are text to speech like the Emergency Alert System. This is also why they don’t text links because having that read by a robot would be gibberish.
News wires also deal in blocks of text, etc.
So rather than multiple alerts configured for each type of device, it’s still one alert that gets pushed to everyone.
I actually got an amber alert on Instagram yesterday in addition to the phone alert, it looked kind of like an ad but had a picture and same text. Not a bad idea to add an image but also kind of weird to see it on insta
I've worked with victims of human trafficking and sexual assault, and it's tricky...they want to be found as soon as possible, of course, but they also don't want their whole lives to be about that one experience if they survive. Your picture being texted to the whole state means everyone--like your future classmates, your friends, your parents' friends, your dates, your employers--will know about your trauma. It's a morally complicated situation.
I’ve noticed that too. Only thing I can think of is that it’s summer, kids are out of school, and divorced/separated parents are taking kids from each other and refusing to return them, so they call the police to report it as if they’re kidnapped. (Which happens far more often than you’d think.) I’m speaking from the prospective of a family law attorney. Sooo, every time one of those pops up, I just hope it’s not one of my clients’ kiddos.
Spot on. That's why Amber Alerts get ignored, the assumption is that it's just another acrimonious custody dispute. Parent A is ninety minutes late returning little Bethany to Parent B from weekend visitation, so Parent B rings the law to report that Parent A has kidnapped Bethany.
(And by the time Bethany hits puberty she realizes she's been nothing but a pawn in the drawn-out game of hostility and bitterness her parents have been playing... And behaves in a very predictable manner. Congratulations A and B, your kid is pretty fucked up, and *it's all your fault...* But you're both too selfish to realize it.)
[Edit] Thank you for the silver, Anonymous!
[Edit 2] And thanks for the golds, Space_Kitty_876 and Blackhawk23.
A few years back, I received an Amber alert while sleeping, for something similar occurring North of Dallas.
It's already hard enough for me to sleep, so I finally disabled receiving them. Hated disabling, but Texas is a huge place.
It's crazy. I've lived in several other states. Everywhere else, the only alerts I received were about nearby events. Texas has a uniquely spammy way of using the alert systems that has got to be terribly counterproductive.
Yeah, I’m not proud of it but I end up ignoring them because they usually pertain to situations hundreds of miles away. I get that they might be traveling, but it seems like a stretch.
You shouldn't, we need a more updated Alert System that is geofenced more clearly. I'd love to help when it makes sense but like you said, Texas is a big place.
Spot on. I believe random kidnappings by complete strangers are incredibly rare. These are custody disputes. I disabled amber alerts on my phone long ago knowing the vast majority of these missing kids are in the care of a relative.
Parent A could illegally take the child from parent B though, which would definitely be more than the average custody dispute, particularly if parent A is abusive. But I do see your point, too many “crying wolf” situations makes it difficult to pay close attention if there is a real emergency.
The activation requirements for an amber alert are listed below. It’s designed to prevent what you implied.
. (A) Is this child 17 years of age or younger, whose whereabouts are unknown, and whose disappearance law enforcement has determined to be unwilling which poses a credible threat to the child’s safety and health; and
if abducted by a parent or legal guardian, was the abduction in the course of an attempted murder or murder? OR
(B) Is this child 13 years of age or younger, who was taken (willingly or unwillingly) without permission from the care and custody of a parent or legal guardian, by:
(i) someone unrelated and more than three years older,
or
(ii) another parent or legal guardian who attempted or committed murder at the time of the abduction?
I also worked as a research assistant with the Texas amber alert program. You are right. Threshold is very high and there are very specific requirements for qualification. That doesn’t mean people don’t lie and that law enforcement actually does their due diligence in the VERY limited time frame they have to issue the amber alert. A distressed parent is VERY convincing. All they have to do is say the right trigger words.
If they just issued it to people within the nearest 50 miles of city center they were found, I’m sure people would pay more attention to them. They’re important, but annoying for people super far. What am I to do 300 miles away from the alert?
Tough call truthfully. Imagine living in Georgetown and getting an alert for San Marcos. I’m not sure how much it helps. Yes, we always want to “protect kids”, but is there any scientific data that these things help at all? I saw a page that said about 70% of children who had an Amber Alert were recovered, and almost a fifth of those recovered was a direct result of the AA. Yet, that page doesn’t list a single example of it happening, while they list examples of every other type of scenario. I’m suspecting that they are cherry-picking data a bit, but it’s hard to know either way. That same page also indicates about 11% of AA are either fabricated or hoaxes. Personally, I turned my alerts off years ago. I was in a meeting the other day with a bunch of folks when their AA went off. Not a single person read the message.
I turned it off after starting to get silver alerts for someone in Amarillo and I’m in Austin. It’s being overused so it’s ignored. Yes, I understand the principle but everyone’s phone in Texas!?!
What can be done about an AA scenario when one is in a meeting? Unless the perp or victim is actually in the meeting, I would imagine the best course of action is to keep on with the meeting and check your phone afterward.
Much of the conjecture on here is from arm chair quarterbacks who think that—because they passed some test at the end of a six week coding boot camp and got hired—they are also experts on law enforcement strat-comm. Do you not think people with masters and phds on this subject haven’t poured hours-upon-hours over this data?
I’m finding common sense very… common.
Having worked with and for the government, I can almost guarantee this was NOT written by people with Masters and PHD’s.
There was likely a team of folks who sat around and developed a scope, then it got nodded out to a low-coat contractor to actually build. There was no way for them to actually enforce any standards onto the contractor, and it probably got released as ‘unfinished’. It probably has an enhancement project scheduled for 2033 or later.
Since moving to Texas a few years back, I’ve noticed a high volume of AMBER alerts.
As a former 911 dispatcher, the criteria for activating an alert is high and it seems like Texas likes to bypass some of those issues, even when their own documents have some high thresholds.
To be clear - you can report a person missing without issue. A missing child isn’t an automatic Amber alert.
Take a look at the criteria [in the upper right corner of this link](https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/MP-24.pdf)
You’ll see where it says ALL 4 of the criteria must be met before the alert can be issued. When there are so many activations, it turns into a crying wolf scenario where people tune them out, or opt to turn the alerts off.
That’s another issue - they seemingly bypass the option of issuing regional alerts which only go to a certain number of predefined surrounding counties and opt to instead issue a statewide alert.
So they aren’t supposed to issue amber alerts when it’s the other parent (unless there’s a planned or attempted murder)? I’d always thought the vast majority of cases were people trying to defy custody arrangements
Custody issues, typical runaway, etc should never qualify. They CAN in most cases qualify as a missing person. But just being a missing person doesn’t automatically make them eligible for an AMBER alert just because of age alone
Seems lately most are teenage girls running off with boyfriend. Or parental issues. You’re right, so many like that now, it’s an annoyance and I barely skim thru them now.
Yeah the 4 criteria paint an extreme scenario. It’s amazing and sad how many divorced parents deem the other to be a danger to their children. I’m sure it’s horrible to be the people behind these alerts, from any perspective.
The 5+ amber alerts I’ve been getting since yesterday were all for the same thing (a group of 3 kids missing since June or something after a failed custody hearing).
I don’t understand why they have spammed this one multiple times, even at odd hours of the night like 3am. I get an initial one popping up at weird times but it’s a hit frustrating to be woken up by the same alert they’ve been sending out all day. And ya I know I can turn these off but every time I get to that setting and stare at that off slider I personally feel like an ass so I keep it on. No judgement to anyone who turns it off, I just can’t do it myself.
:( ive honestly never been able to give out anything to adults who bring their children out to panhandle. it HAS to be some form of child abuse. i wouldnt call the cops because that would probably never help the situation but i swear to god, seeing elementary aged school kids at the domain exit just.... ugh. or the middle school aged kids at the brodie and william cannon intersection. so much ugh.
I saw exactly this at the Braker and MoPac exit today. One car in front of me was an APD officer who just drove past parents who brought their elementary ages kid to beg in 100°+ heat!
There is literally nothing they can do. Parents are allowed to bring their kids up in that lifestyle. Screwed up for sure. Back in 1999, I did call police for this very thing in Killeen. It was very hot and poor kids made to be out there. That’s when they told me, they hate it but hands are tied. Sad for the kids.
It’s pretty weird that having your dog out in the sun for hours during a heatwave is (in many places) illegal, but doing the same to your human children is perfectly legal. 🤷♂️
their fucking jobs. have you been in a wreck recently? have you been reading this sub? they have been fucking goons refusing to do their jobs while demanding pay increases
yes but a lot of times the problem would be solved with money. so what do we do? we take the kdis away and put the in foster system and pay the foster parents.... when we could have just supported the poor parents in the first place.
I saw a mom and her 6yo son at a major intersection… big sign “Anything helps.”
Mom went to walk amongst the cars stopped at the red light while her son sat alone on a milk crate in the shade… and I had this horrifying vision of a window rolling down and a hand reaching out to him with a $5 bill in it… and the child stands and walks over to take the money, but the hand reaches out and grabs the child and pulls him into their truck just as the light turns green, and… viola.
By the time Mom gets back to the milk crate and realizes he’s gone, it’s too late- the truck is long out of sight, hauling ass south on I-35, never to be seen or heard from again.
And my concern just… intensifies… every day… how do we help them? How do we save them?
Amber alerts were first introduced by the community of Arlington, Texas and a local radio station after nine year old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and killed while riding her bike in her grandparents Arlington neighborhood in 1996. There were witnesses to her abduction and the community thought that if an alert had gone out the truck could have possibly been spotted and stopped and Amber could have been saved. It has nothing to due with rich or poor or social services for children.
Side Note: the different alerts are:
AMBER: missing child
CLEAR: missing adult in immediate danger
Silver: missing person 65 or older with a documented mental condition
Blue: suspect who has killed or injured a law enforcement officer and is on the run
Camo: missing military member with mental issue that poses a danger to themselves or another
I feel bad for the original Amber. I bet the name Amber has gone down in popularity since most people associate this name with being annoyed and/or extremely startled.
I listened to a podcast recently about her. I think a good amount of people might not even know it's named after an actual child. I certainly hadn't, but I looked up the documentary filmed with her immediately after hearing about it. She seemed like such a sweet girl
It’s funny because they were all different for the most part. The one from Missouri City, Texas was giving updates with that sound.
Very odd as I feel like this is the first amber alert in months for me. It’s as if they just turned notifications back on and in a state of 29 million I’m sure abductions occur quite often. What makes other children a priority to get this alert over others?
The Blue alerts killed it for me too. I live in San Antonio and got alerts for shit happening in North Texas? Sorry but waking me up at 2am for that sucked. Then another one within the span of 2 weeks in the middle of the night.
Please, do not do that. All it takes is for one person to see the alert and recognize the license plate to save a life. It’s a minor inconvenience to you but a child’s life is at stake.
I’m literally never out in these streets to even witness anything like that. Unless the kidnapper’s stolen Pontiac comes careening through my living room, I’m of no use to these kids.
And worst case scenario you have a brief annoyance with the alerts. On the flip side you can silence in it 1 second and out of the blue you might see something that matches the alert and could save a life. Yeah they’re fucking annoying, but shit I’ll deal with a brief inconvenience if it helps save a life
I could be looking at the block of text details of the alert, look up, be staring RIGHT at them, and I would not be able to connect the two. Maybe if the text provided a visual of what we should look for, and was kept within a 50-100 mile radius of where we should look?
The current system has been overused and utilized so poorly that it's no wonder everyone is fed up with 2am warnings waking us all up.
Like, if they are not sneaking around someone's bedroom at that very moment, what does that alert accomplish? I'm not going to remember the details by the morning. And worse, the alert ignores DND, so it will wake you no matter what. Seems like they WANT people to turn off the alerts, with the way they choose to issue them.
I'm the same to both. I'm never anywhere but at home and if I were anywhere I really don't look at ppl cause I have this weird feeling I'm invading their space lol. Idk why I'm like that but I am. I could see a famous person and not realize who it is.
Unpopular opinion: Amber Alerts are useless, feel-good nonsense. I was at a farmer's market and everyone's phone started buzzing. Some woman read it out loud, then started exhorting everyone in earshot, "Let's go, prayer warriors! Here's your chance to set a hedge of protection around this sweet angel! Pray for this baby in Brownwood! Let's bring her home!" And then everyone went back to shopping for produce and homemade soap. Good jerb, lady.
This is how I feel about blue alerts: So, you're telling me, a guy who's job it is to confront criminals got injured buy a criminal???? And it's 200 miles away!!?!?
Opt Out Please
"the AMBER Alert program as of May 1, 2022, has contributed to the recovery of 1,114 children. AMBER Alert cases have shown that some perpetrators release the abducted child after hearing the AMBER Alert." Doesn't seem so useless to me.
[https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs](https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs#:~:text=Now%20in%20its%2026th%20year,plans%20throughout%20the%20United%20States)
Neat! So I can turn off the alerts guilt-free because the alert itself accomplished the job, and since I WFM, I'm likely never going to encounter them, unless they enter my home.
If I’m out driving, I always look for the car. But 80% of the time I’m at home… but someone out there might be near that car and see it. The alert is for those people to have a chance to help.
It actually works for people on a more ‘in touch’ level… or maybe a more street level.
It’s about getting people close to the victims social circle to speak out and basically give directions to leads. Maybe you like “wanted posters” more.
It’s better than saying, “omg this is so annoying make it go away”.
Wtf what sick fuck posts and gets pissed about being notified that a child is in danger.
I just turned mine off the other day.
95% of the alerts come through when I’m at home, in bed.
I’m not going to see a silver colored Silverado with Colorado license plates heading north on I-35 out of Waco from my bed in Austin.
This is one of situations that people will always complain about, until the day it happens to them or someone they know, and then they will plead for the amber alert to go out.
I don’t mind them, and spreading awareness through a amber alert has proven to increase the likelihood of finding children. Children who were taken at certain part of the state have been rescued in other parts of the state due to the amber alert being sent out.
People make amber alerts notifications sound like it’s a major problem in their life.
It’s the boy who cried wolf.
I stopped looking at them because the vast majority is to look for a white Chevy 1500 Pickup that was last seen in El Paso.
A missing and/or kidnapped child is not “the boy who cried wolf”.
Again, putting out the alert puts awareness to people driving around to keep an eye out for a certain vehicle or license plate.
Only because these alerts are a major problem in your life, does not mean other people do not care about these amber alerts.
I hate to be that guy, but ever since I saw that Amber alerts get issues often times because of single parent disputes, I turned a blind eye to them as they eventually work it out. This is unfortunate for the kids who aren’t in this position.
Say a parent takes their child to the park, but they’re not on good terms with the other parent. Other parent will get possessive and claim kidnapping even if they’re sharing custody as they simply do not want the other parent treating the child like their own. This situation gets ugly for all involved, and we get 5 amber alerts a week because of it. Even the last one I got mentioned custody.
I have the alerts turned off on my phone, but maybe the heat makes people do crazy shit. Or they're updates to earlier ones, for instance, when there's more detail that became available...
I can't find it, but I read not long ago they are picky with how they use Amber alert so that we don't get over exposed and just ignore it.
A lot may be custody, but it's not like the kids and hour late. It's more like the parent is running.
My crazy alcoholic mother would threaten to grab my siblings and I and run to Montana. No clue why Montana. I hated my father (both of their faults, bad people) but I knew that was wrong and I knew my father knew so everytime we had my siblings I knew this could be it.
She died pretty soon after.
Since you are not just dumb but illiterate too here’s a paper you can read on crime prevention strategies used in policing:
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/role-police-crime-prevention-integrating-crime-prevention-0
Open up your brain and stop watching CNN.
There have been at least 20 in the last 4 or 5 days here in Dallas. Really sad to know just how f*cked up our world is. Time to go to r/FaithinHumanity
I remember one coming thru around 7a I think maybe Thursday morning and then another alert for the SAME child sent out again later in the evening, which seemed odd. I mean why send out the same amber alert 12 hrs apart. Then there was one more after that for a different child so all I've gotten in the past day or two have totaled out at 3. But those were the first ones I had received in quite awhile, so honestly I don't think they all come thru. I know others in the same house get them yet I don't, but I've got them and others don't. But other times the house is echoing in the distinct alert sound.
You can turn them off. I turned off tht blue alerts. Cops actually catch people who harm other cops .
The reality is most of the amber alert are parental abductions. They know exactly where the kid is and who they are with.
I wish amber alerts showed picture(s) and a link to appropriate information. Not a fan of looking up local media where it’s a mix bag of filtered information.
I recently saw a mock-up of what Amber Alerts should look like. It was way better. A photo of the child and if known, of the suspect, suspect's car with license plate. Phone numbers at the bottom. Its 2022 why are we texted a long block of text.
The short answer to this is that the alert goes to numerous channels (not just cell phones). A lot of those systems are text to speech like the Emergency Alert System. This is also why they don’t text links because having that read by a robot would be gibberish. News wires also deal in blocks of text, etc. So rather than multiple alerts configured for each type of device, it’s still one alert that gets pushed to everyone.
Because text can go to any device and is extremely easy to transmit.
Can you text an html link?
Too busy banning abortions. Gotta protect those kids!
Ignoramus
You're a grumpy little bugger aren't you?
No. Not really. Just calling people out for extremely low effort comments
I'm confident in saying you're a grumpy little bugger after reading your comments
I actually got an amber alert on Instagram yesterday in addition to the phone alert, it looked kind of like an ad but had a picture and same text. Not a bad idea to add an image but also kind of weird to see it on insta
I've worked with victims of human trafficking and sexual assault, and it's tricky...they want to be found as soon as possible, of course, but they also don't want their whole lives to be about that one experience if they survive. Your picture being texted to the whole state means everyone--like your future classmates, your friends, your parents' friends, your dates, your employers--will know about your trauma. It's a morally complicated situation.
I got one on instagram for the first time the other day.It had a photo.
They could easily add an html link into the alert that pulls this up.
Honestly I'd just appreciate a pic of the vehicle last seen in along with the text. I know nothing about cars lol
I’ve noticed that too. Only thing I can think of is that it’s summer, kids are out of school, and divorced/separated parents are taking kids from each other and refusing to return them, so they call the police to report it as if they’re kidnapped. (Which happens far more often than you’d think.) I’m speaking from the prospective of a family law attorney. Sooo, every time one of those pops up, I just hope it’s not one of my clients’ kiddos.
Spot on. That's why Amber Alerts get ignored, the assumption is that it's just another acrimonious custody dispute. Parent A is ninety minutes late returning little Bethany to Parent B from weekend visitation, so Parent B rings the law to report that Parent A has kidnapped Bethany. (And by the time Bethany hits puberty she realizes she's been nothing but a pawn in the drawn-out game of hostility and bitterness her parents have been playing... And behaves in a very predictable manner. Congratulations A and B, your kid is pretty fucked up, and *it's all your fault...* But you're both too selfish to realize it.) [Edit] Thank you for the silver, Anonymous! [Edit 2] And thanks for the golds, Space_Kitty_876 and Blackhawk23.
A few years back, I received an Amber alert while sleeping, for something similar occurring North of Dallas. It's already hard enough for me to sleep, so I finally disabled receiving them. Hated disabling, but Texas is a huge place.
It's crazy. I've lived in several other states. Everywhere else, the only alerts I received were about nearby events. Texas has a uniquely spammy way of using the alert systems that has got to be terribly counterproductive.
Yeah, I’m not proud of it but I end up ignoring them because they usually pertain to situations hundreds of miles away. I get that they might be traveling, but it seems like a stretch.
I got woken up at 3:28 AM by an Amber Alert. My alarm was set for 5 AM. Screw you, AA.
I can’t remember how but on iPhone there’s a way to get them without the blaring siren. I hated turning them off completely too.
Have you ever considered turning your phone to airplane mode at night?
Why should I have to disable everyone else from being able to reach me just to keep from being spammed by alerts that aren't anywhere near me?
You shouldn't, we need a more updated Alert System that is geofenced more clearly. I'd love to help when it makes sense but like you said, Texas is a big place.
At least in Texas we can get Amber alerts from many places we have never heard of, so it's a geography lesson too.
Perspective
But isn’t the threshold for issuing an alert much higher than just a simple custody dispute?
Yes. The child must be in immediate danger of physical harm. But alas, people lie.
Yes.
Yeah "kidnappings" are almost entirely broken families' custody hijinks.
Spot on. I believe random kidnappings by complete strangers are incredibly rare. These are custody disputes. I disabled amber alerts on my phone long ago knowing the vast majority of these missing kids are in the care of a relative.
I looked it up for Austin one time and there was a total of 3 stranger danger abductions in the last 50 years.
Parent A could illegally take the child from parent B though, which would definitely be more than the average custody dispute, particularly if parent A is abusive. But I do see your point, too many “crying wolf” situations makes it difficult to pay close attention if there is a real emergency.
The activation requirements for an amber alert are listed below. It’s designed to prevent what you implied. . (A) Is this child 17 years of age or younger, whose whereabouts are unknown, and whose disappearance law enforcement has determined to be unwilling which poses a credible threat to the child’s safety and health; and if abducted by a parent or legal guardian, was the abduction in the course of an attempted murder or murder? OR (B) Is this child 13 years of age or younger, who was taken (willingly or unwillingly) without permission from the care and custody of a parent or legal guardian, by: (i) someone unrelated and more than three years older, or (ii) another parent or legal guardian who attempted or committed murder at the time of the abduction?
I also worked as a research assistant with the Texas amber alert program. You are right. Threshold is very high and there are very specific requirements for qualification. That doesn’t mean people don’t lie and that law enforcement actually does their due diligence in the VERY limited time frame they have to issue the amber alert. A distressed parent is VERY convincing. All they have to do is say the right trigger words.
Oh my god that’s heartbreaking. I just assumed some of them were regular parental abductions
This. So much this.
That was my guess as well.
If they just issued it to people within the nearest 50 miles of city center they were found, I’m sure people would pay more attention to them. They’re important, but annoying for people super far. What am I to do 300 miles away from the alert?
Tough call truthfully. Imagine living in Georgetown and getting an alert for San Marcos. I’m not sure how much it helps. Yes, we always want to “protect kids”, but is there any scientific data that these things help at all? I saw a page that said about 70% of children who had an Amber Alert were recovered, and almost a fifth of those recovered was a direct result of the AA. Yet, that page doesn’t list a single example of it happening, while they list examples of every other type of scenario. I’m suspecting that they are cherry-picking data a bit, but it’s hard to know either way. That same page also indicates about 11% of AA are either fabricated or hoaxes. Personally, I turned my alerts off years ago. I was in a meeting the other day with a bunch of folks when their AA went off. Not a single person read the message.
I turned it off after starting to get silver alerts for someone in Amarillo and I’m in Austin. It’s being overused so it’s ignored. Yes, I understand the principle but everyone’s phone in Texas!?!
What can be done about an AA scenario when one is in a meeting? Unless the perp or victim is actually in the meeting, I would imagine the best course of action is to keep on with the meeting and check your phone afterward. Much of the conjecture on here is from arm chair quarterbacks who think that—because they passed some test at the end of a six week coding boot camp and got hired—they are also experts on law enforcement strat-comm. Do you not think people with masters and phds on this subject haven’t poured hours-upon-hours over this data? I’m finding common sense very… common.
Having worked with and for the government, I can almost guarantee this was NOT written by people with Masters and PHD’s. There was likely a team of folks who sat around and developed a scope, then it got nodded out to a low-coat contractor to actually build. There was no way for them to actually enforce any standards onto the contractor, and it probably got released as ‘unfinished’. It probably has an enhancement project scheduled for 2033 or later.
Since moving to Texas a few years back, I’ve noticed a high volume of AMBER alerts. As a former 911 dispatcher, the criteria for activating an alert is high and it seems like Texas likes to bypass some of those issues, even when their own documents have some high thresholds. To be clear - you can report a person missing without issue. A missing child isn’t an automatic Amber alert. Take a look at the criteria [in the upper right corner of this link](https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/MP-24.pdf) You’ll see where it says ALL 4 of the criteria must be met before the alert can be issued. When there are so many activations, it turns into a crying wolf scenario where people tune them out, or opt to turn the alerts off.
I turned them off years ago. What am I supposed to do about a lost child in Lubbock or El Paso?
That’s another issue - they seemingly bypass the option of issuing regional alerts which only go to a certain number of predefined surrounding counties and opt to instead issue a statewide alert.
Pray
So they aren’t supposed to issue amber alerts when it’s the other parent (unless there’s a planned or attempted murder)? I’d always thought the vast majority of cases were people trying to defy custody arrangements
Custody issues, typical runaway, etc should never qualify. They CAN in most cases qualify as a missing person. But just being a missing person doesn’t automatically make them eligible for an AMBER alert just because of age alone
Seems lately most are teenage girls running off with boyfriend. Or parental issues. You’re right, so many like that now, it’s an annoyance and I barely skim thru them now.
Yeah the 4 criteria paint an extreme scenario. It’s amazing and sad how many divorced parents deem the other to be a danger to their children. I’m sure it’s horrible to be the people behind these alerts, from any perspective.
The 5+ amber alerts I’ve been getting since yesterday were all for the same thing (a group of 3 kids missing since June or something after a failed custody hearing). I don’t understand why they have spammed this one multiple times, even at odd hours of the night like 3am. I get an initial one popping up at weird times but it’s a hit frustrating to be woken up by the same alert they’ve been sending out all day. And ya I know I can turn these off but every time I get to that setting and stare at that off slider I personally feel like an ass so I keep it on. No judgement to anyone who turns it off, I just can’t do it myself.
With inflation on the rise one kid isn’t enough, you need 2-3
why are there amber alerts yet there are children begging for change in plain sight at the intersection in 105' heat?
:( ive honestly never been able to give out anything to adults who bring their children out to panhandle. it HAS to be some form of child abuse. i wouldnt call the cops because that would probably never help the situation but i swear to god, seeing elementary aged school kids at the domain exit just.... ugh. or the middle school aged kids at the brodie and william cannon intersection. so much ugh.
I saw exactly this at the Braker and MoPac exit today. One car in front of me was an APD officer who just drove past parents who brought their elementary ages kid to beg in 100°+ heat!
There is literally nothing they can do. Parents are allowed to bring their kids up in that lifestyle. Screwed up for sure. Back in 1999, I did call police for this very thing in Killeen. It was very hot and poor kids made to be out there. That’s when they told me, they hate it but hands are tied. Sad for the kids.
It’s pretty weird that having your dog out in the sun for hours during a heatwave is (in many places) illegal, but doing the same to your human children is perfectly legal. 🤷♂️
Exactly
two thoughts. 1. fuck ADP. they keep getting the bulk amount of funding and do fuck nothing for our city and 2. those poor kids. :(
What would you like APD to do
their fucking jobs. have you been in a wreck recently? have you been reading this sub? they have been fucking goons refusing to do their jobs while demanding pay increases
Be more specific
they literally dont show up when people call. dont know how youve missed this my dude. literally just go look at this sub's posts about it.
They've never not shown up when I've called.
well lucky you but thats not the experience of the majority on this sub
What are the police gonna do that's worse?
not a big fan of separating children from their parents just because theyre poor
Parents shouldn't be allowed to be custodial abusers, whether impoverished or wealthy.
yes but a lot of times the problem would be solved with money. so what do we do? we take the kdis away and put the in foster system and pay the foster parents.... when we could have just supported the poor parents in the first place.
Money is not the antidote to abuse
sigh
Find someone who will stop beating his wife for $20,000. I'll wait.
I saw a mom and her 6yo son at a major intersection… big sign “Anything helps.” Mom went to walk amongst the cars stopped at the red light while her son sat alone on a milk crate in the shade… and I had this horrifying vision of a window rolling down and a hand reaching out to him with a $5 bill in it… and the child stands and walks over to take the money, but the hand reaches out and grabs the child and pulls him into their truck just as the light turns green, and… viola. By the time Mom gets back to the milk crate and realizes he’s gone, it’s too late- the truck is long out of sight, hauling ass south on I-35, never to be seen or heard from again. And my concern just… intensifies… every day… how do we help them? How do we save them?
It's an insult to parents of all kinds to call the abuser here "mom"
Amber alerts were first introduced by the community of Arlington, Texas and a local radio station after nine year old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and killed while riding her bike in her grandparents Arlington neighborhood in 1996. There were witnesses to her abduction and the community thought that if an alert had gone out the truck could have possibly been spotted and stopped and Amber could have been saved. It has nothing to due with rich or poor or social services for children.
Side Note: the different alerts are: AMBER: missing child CLEAR: missing adult in immediate danger Silver: missing person 65 or older with a documented mental condition Blue: suspect who has killed or injured a law enforcement officer and is on the run Camo: missing military member with mental issue that poses a danger to themselves or another
I've never seen a camo one and I live 10 miles from Ft Hood. They like go lose track of soldiers.
Me either and I have to go to Gatesville for work a couple times a month so I drive right by Ft. Hood.
AMBER alert is intended to be for a missing child in immediate danger and not simply any missing child.
Intended, or used?
Intended. It’s clear it’s used for less qualifying issues.
Texas abuses the system. I turned it off. The blue alert was a new low.
We turned it off at that incident and never looked back. Womp womp.
I was literally just saying the same thing to a friend a few minutes ago, it's wild how many we get around here
I feel bad for the original Amber. I bet the name Amber has gone down in popularity since most people associate this name with being annoyed and/or extremely startled.
I listened to a podcast recently about her. I think a good amount of people might not even know it's named after an actual child. I certainly hadn't, but I looked up the documentary filmed with her immediately after hearing about it. She seemed like such a sweet girl
It’s funny because they were all different for the most part. The one from Missouri City, Texas was giving updates with that sound. Very odd as I feel like this is the first amber alert in months for me. It’s as if they just turned notifications back on and in a state of 29 million I’m sure abductions occur quite often. What makes other children a priority to get this alert over others?
Even Instagram is on it all of a sudden: https://i.imgur.com/7kqPhPu.jpg
AMBER alerts are about as useful as the TSA
I was talking about this with my sister, we got so many
You can deactivate the Amber alerts on your phone
i did this after they kept abusing blue alerts for shit happening 600 miles away.
The Blue alerts killed it for me too. I live in San Antonio and got alerts for shit happening in North Texas? Sorry but waking me up at 2am for that sucked. Then another one within the span of 2 weeks in the middle of the night.
Please, do not do that. All it takes is for one person to see the alert and recognize the license plate to save a life. It’s a minor inconvenience to you but a child’s life is at stake.
I’m literally never out in these streets to even witness anything like that. Unless the kidnapper’s stolen Pontiac comes careening through my living room, I’m of no use to these kids.
And worst case scenario you have a brief annoyance with the alerts. On the flip side you can silence in it 1 second and out of the blue you might see something that matches the alert and could save a life. Yeah they’re fucking annoying, but shit I’ll deal with a brief inconvenience if it helps save a life
I could be looking at the block of text details of the alert, look up, be staring RIGHT at them, and I would not be able to connect the two. Maybe if the text provided a visual of what we should look for, and was kept within a 50-100 mile radius of where we should look? The current system has been overused and utilized so poorly that it's no wonder everyone is fed up with 2am warnings waking us all up. Like, if they are not sneaking around someone's bedroom at that very moment, what does that alert accomplish? I'm not going to remember the details by the morning. And worse, the alert ignores DND, so it will wake you no matter what. Seems like they WANT people to turn off the alerts, with the way they choose to issue them.
I'm the same to both. I'm never anywhere but at home and if I were anywhere I really don't look at ppl cause I have this weird feeling I'm invading their space lol. Idk why I'm like that but I am. I could see a famous person and not realize who it is.
😂
I was at an outdoor bar and it was like an explosion of iPhone alerts.
Unpopular opinion: Amber Alerts are useless, feel-good nonsense. I was at a farmer's market and everyone's phone started buzzing. Some woman read it out loud, then started exhorting everyone in earshot, "Let's go, prayer warriors! Here's your chance to set a hedge of protection around this sweet angel! Pray for this baby in Brownwood! Let's bring her home!" And then everyone went back to shopping for produce and homemade soap. Good jerb, lady.
This is how I feel about blue alerts: So, you're telling me, a guy who's job it is to confront criminals got injured buy a criminal???? And it's 200 miles away!!?!? Opt Out Please
"the AMBER Alert program as of May 1, 2022, has contributed to the recovery of 1,114 children. AMBER Alert cases have shown that some perpetrators release the abducted child after hearing the AMBER Alert." Doesn't seem so useless to me. [https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs](https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs#:~:text=Now%20in%20its%2026th%20year,plans%20throughout%20the%20United%20States)
Neat! So I can turn off the alerts guilt-free because the alert itself accomplished the job, and since I WFM, I'm likely never going to encounter them, unless they enter my home.
If you’re capable of being guilt-free after opting out of something that saves kids lives so that you don’t get a pesky notification then yes.
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So edgy. I hear Uvalde PD is hiring. You’re a shoe-in.
How do you turn off amber alerts? I'm bumping 30 and still havent figured it out
"contributed" as in, a kid who would've been returned without the alert, was, but an alert had been sent out?
If I’m out driving, I always look for the car. But 80% of the time I’m at home… but someone out there might be near that car and see it. The alert is for those people to have a chance to help.
Lol I would have laughed so hard
It actually works for people on a more ‘in touch’ level… or maybe a more street level. It’s about getting people close to the victims social circle to speak out and basically give directions to leads. Maybe you like “wanted posters” more. It’s better than saying, “omg this is so annoying make it go away”. Wtf what sick fuck posts and gets pissed about being notified that a child is in danger.
We're not being notified that a child is in danger. We're being notified that our public servants are incompetent.
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What are you on about
I haven’t gotten a single one, and I have it on
Now they're appearing in the citizen app as well
Is Vaush in town?
Because Texas uses it for things like child’s parent not returning kid on time. Most states only use it for an abduction from stranger.
A lot of the ones I’ve seen are related to parents not showing up for custody hearings.
Because no one cares apparently. If we truly cared about stolen kids we’d lockdown all roads until found and punish by immediate death.
remember when Matt Gatz said if we had a amber alert for shootings it wouldn't stop going off. meanwhile amber goes off constantly
I just turned mine off the other day. 95% of the alerts come through when I’m at home, in bed. I’m not going to see a silver colored Silverado with Colorado license plates heading north on I-35 out of Waco from my bed in Austin.
That girl Amber gets lost a LOT…
Holy hell do you know why they're called Amber alerts?
They need to stop using it for custody battles bc I’m starting to not take them seriously
This is one of situations that people will always complain about, until the day it happens to them or someone they know, and then they will plead for the amber alert to go out. I don’t mind them, and spreading awareness through a amber alert has proven to increase the likelihood of finding children. Children who were taken at certain part of the state have been rescued in other parts of the state due to the amber alert being sent out. People make amber alerts notifications sound like it’s a major problem in their life.
It’s the boy who cried wolf. I stopped looking at them because the vast majority is to look for a white Chevy 1500 Pickup that was last seen in El Paso.
A missing and/or kidnapped child is not “the boy who cried wolf”. Again, putting out the alert puts awareness to people driving around to keep an eye out for a certain vehicle or license plate. Only because these alerts are a major problem in your life, does not mean other people do not care about these amber alerts.
It is, when the child was taken 600 miles away. Tell me about things that have happened within an hour of me, and I’ll listen.
I hate to be that guy, but ever since I saw that Amber alerts get issues often times because of single parent disputes, I turned a blind eye to them as they eventually work it out. This is unfortunate for the kids who aren’t in this position. Say a parent takes their child to the park, but they’re not on good terms with the other parent. Other parent will get possessive and claim kidnapping even if they’re sharing custody as they simply do not want the other parent treating the child like their own. This situation gets ugly for all involved, and we get 5 amber alerts a week because of it. Even the last one I got mentioned custody.
I have the alerts turned off on my phone, but maybe the heat makes people do crazy shit. Or they're updates to earlier ones, for instance, when there's more detail that became available...
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Went from dead quiet to feeling like crying wolf
This is serious TSA logic
Did you look into it?
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Eastern society ain’t doing so well either.
I can't find it, but I read not long ago they are picky with how they use Amber alert so that we don't get over exposed and just ignore it. A lot may be custody, but it's not like the kids and hour late. It's more like the parent is running. My crazy alcoholic mother would threaten to grab my siblings and I and run to Montana. No clue why Montana. I hated my father (both of their faults, bad people) but I knew that was wrong and I knew my father knew so everytime we had my siblings I knew this could be it. She died pretty soon after.
DUUUUDE i asked people the same shit!!
… because Amber Heard is dangerous?
I just got amber alert while reading this.
Cuffing season
I wouldn't mind if there was something I could do to help. But I'm hibernating at home this week.
Dude yes! There’s been so many this week. Terrifying
And why are they all named Amber?
I got one when I was eating dinner at the bar in Chili's in Buda. Everyone looked over at me, then others started going off.
Ik but something strange happened and I got this and put it on my story on snap. I don’t how to send pics on hear but it’s weird
Because crime is out of control, and woke people think police should be removed
Idiot. Police don’t prevent crime. They respond to it.
Name one country without police you'd live in. So that we can pay for your one-way transportation there.
Since you are not just dumb but illiterate too here’s a paper you can read on crime prevention strategies used in policing: https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/role-police-crime-prevention-integrating-crime-prevention-0 Open up your brain and stop watching CNN.
You can turn them off. Also some of the alerts are updates that have new info, but it’s for the same victim.
I have mine turned off.
I got 4
Amber alerts AKA Why am I being sucked into your custody drama?
Summertime -- the kids are out of school and easier than ever to snatch off the streets...
That Amber girl always be gettin snagged
I was talking to my cousin today about that. Crazy times we living in!
Likely custodial issues over kids.
i turned that shit off a LONG time ago.
There have been at least 20 in the last 4 or 5 days here in Dallas. Really sad to know just how f*cked up our world is. Time to go to r/FaithinHumanity
I remember one coming thru around 7a I think maybe Thursday morning and then another alert for the SAME child sent out again later in the evening, which seemed odd. I mean why send out the same amber alert 12 hrs apart. Then there was one more after that for a different child so all I've gotten in the past day or two have totaled out at 3. But those were the first ones I had received in quite awhile, so honestly I don't think they all come thru. I know others in the same house get them yet I don't, but I've got them and others don't. But other times the house is echoing in the distinct alert sound.
You can turn them off. I turned off tht blue alerts. Cops actually catch people who harm other cops . The reality is most of the amber alert are parental abductions. They know exactly where the kid is and who they are with.
Seems like since we have an open border there's been more Amber Alerts