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Hello Everyone,
Hope all are well and things are almost back to normal.
Nona the “one man show” from NC here….
Because they are constantly moving me I keep losing my on call volunteers.
My questions:
Who takes your AMBER calls after hours…do you have an on call roster?
Where do your AMBER calls come in at?
Do you have a 24hr line just for AMBERS?
Any suggestion on how to move or handle my 24/7 obligation to answer calls. Down to me and
one other person who is being gracious because he has nothing to do with the Center.
My communications does the AMBER’s after hours but won’t take the call and make the decision.
Any helpful ideas or suggestions welcome.
I would like to hear from as many as possible on how your state handles your after hour calls.
I will need the info in my report to my Lt.
Thanks ….have a great weekend!Nona Best
Dir NC Center for Missing PersonsIn Texas, our Texas Department of Public Safety’s Fusion Center handles all operational aspects, 24-hours a day. The program used to rest with the agencies Division of Emergency Management, but was moved to the Fusion Center. It could have also gone to the agency’s Communications Division, either is 24/7.
We have pretty structured checklists for each of our alerts that lead analysts through the various steps for processing.
Feel free to call me if you want to discuss further at (512)217-0756.
Nona,
Have you read the AMBER Alert Best Practices Guide since it was released a year ago or so? It would help broaden the understanding on “why” some agencies do things a certain way. Kansas’ AMBER Alert is an unfunded legislative mandate, so I am acutely familiar with shoe string operations and making minimum staff work. Some states have lots of people and $$$, so their solutions wont be your solutions. AMBER for every state is run differently, but I would hazard a guess that the level of risk / liability is not well-understood by the management team involved in NC AMBER. I can say that since I am in management. 🙂Like Ben from TX, the actual mechanical ways of improving your operations will be reliant on how your system and agency function, and you would be best served to have a handful of online meetings or phone calls with a variety of states, especially your neighbors. Feel free to add me to the dance if you want to discuss.
Special Agent in Charge William Smith
[email protected]
913-231-8703 directIn Oklahoma we were a one person show for years, we are currently training our Oklahoma Highway Patrol Majors (7) of them on how to vet an Amber Alert request. We all including the OHP Chief and Lieutenant Colonels took training from NCMEC a few weeks ago.
Currently our Amber Alert requests come to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s Regional Communications Center in Oklahoma City, at the RCC we have a terminal dedicated called the State Communications Supervisors Desk. The Communications Lieutenants and Sergeants who staff that 24/7 will contact me and soon will be contacting the OHP Duty Officer. We will be implementing a second person to join the call with the agency so we have two Majors participating in the call with the agency.
When the alert is approved the State Communications Supervisor is advised to activate, in those situations they email our media distribution list, activate the broadcasters network, Email NCMEC requesting the WEA and secondary dissemination, prepare the message for the state highway message boards and post the information, contact OHP Public Affairs which posts to all the social media platforms that we use and notify our troopers who are assigned to all three of the federal district US Marshals Task Forces.
Hi Nona,
In Arkansas, The Arkansas State Police is the only agency who can activate an alert. We currently have three people who can authorize an alert which are all commissioned personnel. Requests generally start with a local agency (PD’s & SO’s) who contact a State Police CID Agent in the field either directly or via Troop Dispatch. CID is divided into regions across the state, and there is always an agent on call. The Agent typically vets the initial information. Our agents have a solid understanding of the criteria. If it meets the criteria, the next call is to me and I have the final say. If it blatantly doesn’t, the agent can make that call. If it’s questionable, they will generally call me. If I am unavailable, it defaults to my boss, or deputy director. One of the keys for us is educating the local jurisdictions about the criteria needed to justify an alert. This will greatly cut down on the calls. When I first became the coordinator, I got calls at all hours from agencies who were “checking the box” on runaways, custodial disputes, etc. Since January, we’ve activated two alerts.I don’t know how many calls you get, but for us using personnel in the field to vet the info first cut down on the calls that come all the way to me. I am also in charge of silver alerts, which is actually more demanding than AAs.
Hope this helps.
Captain Stacie Rhoads
[email protected]Nona,
In New York State, the NYSP Special Victims Unit, is the Amber Alert unit. We are the only group in the state that can activate an AMBER. We have any Amber request routed to our NYSP Communications Section who then notifies the on call investigator (there are currently 4 assigned to our unit) who then makes contact directly to the requestor vets the information of the request, notifies me, we make a joint decision and either consult or advise my command staff and either issue an Alert or refer them to Criminal Justice Services for a child alert if appropriate. My investigators usually work a week of call Monday at 7 AM to Monday at 7 AM. We are averaging about 60 requests a year with average 6 activations. We try to hold the criteria to a high level. Hope this helps.
Hank Abeel
NYSP SVU
518 464-7134
[email protected]Nona,
In Indiana our calls after hours are answered by our Fusion Center and they take the initial information and contact me, while the caller fills out our AMBER Alert form online. After I review the initial information I call my team which is made up of a Lieutenant, First Sgt and a Master Trooper and whomever is available joins in via teams or a telephone call and we reach out to the officer. We hold true to our criteria a each AMBER Alert is a group effort.Angela Meacham
Indiana State Police
Director-Indiana Clearinghouse for Missing Children and Endangered Adults
[email protected]Hi Nona,
This is Julie from Oregon, I am the Clearinghouse Manager here at Oregon State Police. The way we do it is through our dispatch center, which is a 24/7 unit. All AMBER requests go to them and they do the triage to see if they think it meets the criteria. If they think it meets the criteria, there is a list of sworn members that they call to get approval. They also call with denials and possible alerts to discuss what should be done. The final say comes from the sworn personnel assigned to the group. Everyone who is part of the AMBER Alert team understands that if their phone rings it could be an alert request, so they answer their phones at all times.
Hope that helps!
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED….YOUR INFORMATION WAS VERY HELPFUL!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.NONA M BEST
NCCMPAt Texas Center for the Missing – I am the Emergency Alert Coordinator for our 14 county region, so my cell phone is listed for law enforcement to call to activate an alert. Law Enforcement can also choose to call Texas DPS. We are a non-profit organization with only 4 employees, so I am responsible for answering the phone 24/7, 365. My co-workers are gracious enough, if I have some event or vacation I am able to forward my phone to them. Depending on what I am doing, will depend on wether or not I do forward it.
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