AMBER Alert: How Does it Work?

AMBER Alert uses highway changeable message signs, radio, television and cable to immediately broadcast descriptions of kidnap victims, their abductors, and suspect vehicles.

Radio and television stations immediately interrupt their programming to disseminate information. This is done as a public service without commercial endorsement.

The O.P.P. follow an established protocol to activate the alert, notifying police communication centres, M.T.O., the media, and other participating partners in the area in which the child is most likely to be located.

An AMBER Alert is not intended for cases involving parental abductions or runaways except in life threatening situations. The duration of an alert will depend on the circumstances surrounding the abduction and will vary from one incident to the next. In most cases five hours would be the maximum.

The AMBER Alert is in place to quickly notify the public of the details of the abduction during the early stages of the investigation. Once this is
accomplished, the Alert has served its purpose.