AMBER Alert Background

In 1996, the brutal kidnapping and murder of 9 year old Amber Hagerman, caused her community of Arlington Texas to come together and create the AMBER (America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response) program with the intent of preventing such incidents from occurring in the future and to increase the safety of children in the community.

The Ontario AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary cooperative plan between the Ontario Association of Broadcasters, law enforcement agencies, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The program is used to alert
the public in child abduction cases where police believe the
child is in danger of bodily harm or death.

The Ontario Provincial Police facilitate the program within the province. The OPP provide media outlets with critical information concerning a confirmed child abduction which could assist in locating the child. The program is available to all police agencies in Ontario.

When an AMBER Alert is activated, the police now have thousands of eyes watching for the victim, suspect, or suspect’s vehicle.