The Police News DPS Recognizes National AMBER Alert Awareness
Day Jan. 12, 2013 AUSTIN - The State of Texas will join the
nation in observing National AMBER Alert Awareness Day on
January 13, 2013. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast
Emergency Response," and was named for 9-year-old Amber
Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in
1996. Shortly after Amber Hagerman's death, law enforcement and
media representatives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area created the
first AMBER Alert program, serving as a model plan nationwide
for alerting the public regarding abducted children. Currently,
every state in the U.S. has an AMBER Alert Plan, in addition to
several countries around the world. January 13 marks the 17-year
anniversary of Amber Hagerman's abduction, which the U.S.
Department of Justice has designated as National AMBER Alert
Awareness Day. The Texas AMBER Alert Program was established by
Gov. Rick Perry in August of 2002, complementing existing local
AMBER Alert programs. DPS ma