NEW YORK FINALLY GETS ANTI-KIDNAP ‘AMBER ALERTS’

New York is implementing an Amber alert system to help find abducted kids, Governor Pataki said yesterday.  He said, When a child is abducted, the critical element is to act and react as quickly as possible.  We must be the eyes and ears to get the children back.  Amber alerts use 519 highway message signs, toll booth clerks and all 400 state radio and television broadcasters to spread info about snatched kids as fast as possible.  Case details will also be transmitted through the highway advisory radio system and the New York State Lottery, which will post Amber alerts on thousands of state lotto machine message boards.  Amber alert is based on a Texas program that began after the abduction and murder of 9 year old Amber Hagerman in 1996.  Forty-four percent of all abducted kids are murdered within 30 minutes of their abduction, so the idea is to get word of a kidnapping out to the public as quickly as possible.

(New York)