Local Plan

Activation of the Allen County/Fort Wayne/New Haven AMBER Plan

The Allen County/Fort Wayne/New Haven AMBER Plan will be set in motion for all of Allen County by one of the cooperating police agencies.

When a child-abduction is reported and the investigation reveals that:

1) The child is 14 years of age or younger, or 15 through 17 years given consideration to the conduct of the victim perhaps contributing to their disappearance, and;

2) The law enforcement agency believes the missing child has been abducted and is in danger of serious bodily harm or death, and;

3) The abductor and/or child are likely to still be in the Allen County broadcast area, and;

4) There is a likelihood someone who is provided with a description of the abductor, the child, or the vehicle involved may observe and report the whereabouts of this person(s) to the police, then;

The authorized police agency investigating the case may activate the Allen County/Fort Wayne/New Haven AMBER Plan by notifying the media organizations to broadcast information to the public via Emergency Alert System (EAS) as soon as is practical. All AMBER alerts will be reviewed by the "ALLEN COUNTY AMBER PARTNERSHIP COMMITTEE". This will be performed quarterly to ensure compliance with the above activation criteria.

After abduction is confirmed, and meets all criteria for activation, the investigating officer(s) will relay the information to their Communications Division. The Communications supervisor will then send all information surrounding the abduction by encoder and facsimile to the Emergency Alert Stations (EAS). The EAS stations will broadcast the information as a civil emergency message to all media outlets to advise listeners of the abduction and to seek their assistance locating the child. The investigating agency is responsible for transmitting any updates to the media. Listeners will also be advised to check the web site, www.AmberIndiana.com, for additional details of the abduction. The information will be entered into IDACS and NCIC along with the Allen County Amber Alert web site. The participating media outlets will broadcast to lookout(s) to the public every half hour during the first two hours of abduction. And at least once an hour for the next two hours.

Missing adults, runaways, and children taken in child custody disputes usually do NOT qualify for AMBER Plan activation.

 

DEFINITIONS

Abduction
A child is reported to be involuntary missing from the person(s) having care taking responsibilities for the child. There I an eyewitness who states that the child was taken by a person or persons for whom there is a physical description, a vehicle description (if one is involved), and a direction of travel from the point last seen. Lacking an eyewitness, there exists articulable evidence that the child's disappearance was not voluntary.

Child
A person under the age of 18.
Particular consideration must be given when a child is between the ages of 15 and 17, who reported missing. Does their behavior or mental capacity in some way indicate they are contributing to criminal activity. A child under the age of 14 cannot legally give consent for any action and therefore that age group should be considered more at risk.

 

Activation of the Allen County/Fort Wayne/New Haven AMBER Plan

Only pre-designated police agencies may activate the Allen County/Fort Wayne/New Haven AMBER Plan. The investigating police agency will notify the radio stations designated in the Allen County area as lead EAS stations by phone and fax. The stations will then call the investigating agency to validate the alert. The alert will be transmitted to the official "WEB site" simultaneously with the fax and the IDACS and NCIC entry.

 

BROADCAST TO THE PUBLIC

The EAS stations will record and transmit a message to all area media outlets via the EAS to notify all stations to go to the WEB site:
www.AmberIndiana.com, to retrieve a text of the alert. The broadcast should include an attention getting tone unique to Child abductions, and the alert should begin with the Phrase:

"This is a Child Abduction Alert - please stand by for important information".

The alert should include this information from the WEB page:

1) A Child has reportedly been abducted;
2) Where the abduction took place;
3) A description of the child;
4) A description of the abductor;
5) A description of the vehicle involved if any;
6) The last know direction of travel;
7) A telephone number to contact the police with any information.

This alert should be broadcast once every half-hour after the initial alert for the first two hours. The alert should conclude with a statement:

"The person(s) who locates the abductor should take no action other than to call the local police as soon as possible and provide them with the location".

Update alerts may be broadcast if new information may result in the location of the abductor and/or the child, or they have been found.