An Amber Alert has been issued for a 14-year-old girl in the Oklahoma City area, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Abbey Force, 14, is five feet seven inches tall, 165 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes, OHP said.
OHP also shared that Ford was last seen on May 3rd. Authorities say Ford has a pink nose ring.
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Often when a child goes missing, people question why an Amber Alert was or wasn’t sent out.
There are some common misconceptions about the Amber Alert system, but here are some details to keep in mind.
What is an Amber Alert?
Oklahoma does not issue an Amber Alert for every missing child. according to Justice programsCertain criteria must be met before law enforcement can make this call.
The child is 17 years of age or younger.
There is a reasonable belief by law enforcement that a kidnapping or abduction has occurred. Amber Alerts are not issued for fugitives, or situations where the subject has voluntarily left, unless it is believed that there is a threat to their safety.
As such, law enforcement must have reason to believe that the child is in imminent danger of bodily harm or death.
To issue an alert, law enforcement needs a description of the victim, the suspect, and the suspect’s vehicle.
The child’s name and information are entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
Not all criteria need to be met at once, but law enforcement agencies can use guidelines to make decisions.
In cases where abduction is not involved and has disappeared, law enforcement agencies may issue a threatened alert. These warnings are often reported Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
What happens after the criteria for an AMBER Alert are met?
Once law enforcement has decided to issue an AMBER Alert, they notify broadcasters as well as wireless devices such as cell phones.
How was an AMBER Alert created?
The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when the Dallas-Fort Worth Police Department partnered with local broadcasters to develop a system to help locate abducted children. AMBER stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and also refers to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas in January of ’96. Over the next few years, other states adopted the AMBER Alert system.
In April 2003, President Bush signed the Defense Act which his words “Formalizes the federal government’s role in the Amber Alert system and makes it punishable for federal crimes against children.”
How effective was the AMBER warning system?
According to the US Department of Justice, the AMBER Alert program has helped 1,127 children recover as of January 2, 2023, and wireless emergency alerts have saved 131 children. Due to the strict criteria, only a few hundred AMBER Alerts are issued each year, with 254 issued in 2021. For more statistics ღ
The DOJ says AMBER Alerts also act as a deterrent with studies showing some perpetrators release abducted children after hearing an AMBER Alert.