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July 15, 2009

Amber Alert Hoaxes Decrease Program's Effectiveness

A text message has circulated around Louisiana recently claiming that an Amber Alert was issued for a three year old missing from the Lafourche Parish area. There are no current Amber Alerts in Louisiana and the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office confirms that there is no missing three-year-old child.

The Amber Alert program has been credited for the successful recovery of 467 children since its inception. There are at least 120 Amber Alert plans across the country, but there is only one official Amber Alert plan in Louisiana. That plan is administered by the Louisiana State Police in association with the Louisiana broadcasters. The U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children recognize Louisiana’s statewide plan. There have only been 12 activations of the Louisiana Amber Alert system and the children were successfully recovered in all twelve cases.

The Louisiana State Police strictly adhere to the Amber Alert criteria, as recommended by the Department of Justice. All true Amber Alerts in the state of Louisiana will be issued out of the Louisiana State Police Troop F office in Monroe.

Technology is one of the greatest assets to the program, but is sometimes its greatest hindrance. A well-intentioned public often forwards misguided or phony texts and/or emails that refer to Amber Alerts. We strongly urge the public to only react to Amber Alerts from authorized sources, such as the Louisiana media via the Louisiana State Police, Wireless Amber Alerts, Missingkids.com/National Center for Missing &Exploited Children or the Louisiana Clearing House for Missing & Exploited Children. When the public forwards the phony text messages and emails, the integrity of the Amber Alert system is jeopardized.

To receive legitimate Amber Alerts in a specific area of the state, the public may sign-up to receive free text messages via www.wirelessamberalerts.org. Those who sign-up will also receive the Amber Alert cancellation message when the alert is no longer necessary. For more information on Amber Alert, please visit: www.lsp.org, www.louisianaamberalert.com, www.amberalert.gov, www.missingkids.com.



Contact Information,

Trooper First Class Mark Dennis
Louisiana State Police
Troop F Public Affairs
Office: (318) 345-2810

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