[EAS] Cancelling Amber alerts

[Adrienne Abbott]

Dave--
The Nevada AMBER Alert plan provides for AMBER Alert cancellation messages
using the ADR or Administrative Message Event code. Stations have the option
of setting their equipment to automatically  rebroadcast the ADR message or
just using it as a signal to have the staff update the information on the
AMBER Alert. Our AMBER Alert plan includes a form for law enforcement
agencies to use when issuing the ADR message to cancel the AMBER Alert. The
message is always very brief--that the agency has cancelled the AMBER Alert
because the child or children have been located and are being returned home.
Stations with live staff and/or news departments can get further details
from the alerting agency but the purpose of the AMBER Alert is to locate
abducted, endangered children and safely return them home and when the case
has reached that point there is no more need to repeat the alert
information.  

Our AMBER Alert Plan requires that the originating agency cancel the alert
as soon as it's resolved. Most of the time that's when the child has been
located and is being returned home. We have had cases where the Alert has
been cancelled because investigators have determined that the child has been
taken to Mexico and the Mexican government does not see the need to return
the child. 

Nevada also has an AMBER Alert Review Committee which examines every AMBER
Alert issued in the state, including those requested by out-of-state
agencies. The review process determines if the case met our criteria, if the
activation was properly made, if the activation assisted in the recovery of
the child/children and whether there's a need for any changes in the
process. Our broadcasters are also very conscious of the need to protect the
identity of the victims and as soon as the case is resolved, the victim's
name is no longer used in coverage of the case. 

To the best of my knowledge WEA does not provide a mechanism for
cancellation messages. We use the AlertSense program for WEA activations and
there is no option for the ADR Event Code in the WEA portion of the
AlertSense gui. The cell phone providers have limited which Event Codes they
will allow into their system. You could probably write something in your
AMBER Alert Plan to use the CEM Event Code for an AMBER Alert cancellation
on WEA but you might run into some resistance from the cell phone providers.

Adrienne

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair
NVBA  ABIP  Inspector

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Dave Turnmire