Abstract
The AMBER Alert system is popular and highly regarded as a method to rapidly inform citizens to assist in the recovery of abducted children. While public safety officials and missing child advocates laud the system, the scant available empirical evidence suggests claims of its effectiveness should be sharply qualified. It is beyond dispute that some AMBER Alerts have been effective in facilitating the recovery of some abducted children. However, there is extremely little evidence that AMBER Alerts have rescued any children from life-threatening abduction scenarios. In fact, there are not only compelling reasons to doubt the system’s utility but very plausible concerns it could even backfire in specific cases. It can also potentially distort public discourse regarding threats to children. A key concern regarding the AMBER Alert system is whether it can actually hamper effective law enforcement response to specific child abductions and the larger social response to child abductions in general.
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