More than 1 million people in the Netherlands have signed up to receive AMBER Alerts on their cell phones and computers, a remarkable number for a program that is only 3 years old and in a country with a population of 16.7 million.
“Since we launched the AMBER Alert in November 2008, we have consistently tried to keep it in the public eye,” said Netherlands AMBER Alert Coordinator Carlo Schippers.
Those who register receive the alerts through text, e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. An agreement was also recently reached with the Dutch Press Agency to automatically broadcast an AMBER Alert on radio and TV without prior approval. “No time is lost before all Dutch news media receive our message that way,” noted Schippers.
The Netherlands has issued 11 AMBER Alerts so far, and the alerts have directly resulted in finding the child in more than half of the cases.