Amber Alerts FAQ
1. Who can receive AOL AMBER Alerts?You can receive AOL AMBER Alerts if you are an AOL member or if you use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).
You will only receive AOL AMBER Alerts if you 'opt-in,' and you will only receive them for the geographic area you choose.
To find out whether AMBER Alerts are available in your area, go to: www.missingkids.com - AMBER Plan Locations
2. How do I sign up for AOL AMBER Alerts?
On AOL, to sign up for AOL AMBER Alerts:
Go to Keyword: AMBER Alert
Click "Add an AMBER Alert"
Enter your zip code
Click "Save"
If you use AIM, to sign up for AOL AMBER Alerts:
Select "My AIM"
Scroll down to "Alerts"
Select "Manage Web Alerts"
Click "Add an Alert"
From the Alert Topics, click "News"
Click "AMBER Alert"
Click "Add an AMBER Alert"
Enter your zip code
Click "Save"
3. How are AOL AMBER Alerts sent out?
Local law enforcement agencies issue AMBER Alerts, which are sent to broadcast media via the Emergency Alert Service. These agencies will also send the same information to AOL. AOL transmits the AMBER Alerts to you as soon as we receive them.
You can choose to receive AOL AMBER Alerts via your choice of e-mail, IM, or as a text message to your cell phone or pager.
4. Are AOL AMBER Alerts free or do I have to pay for them?
AOL AMBER Alerts are a free service to AOL members and to AIM users. However, your wireless carrier may charge a fee to receive an AOL AMBER Alert via a text message on your wireless device.
5. The information posted at www.missingkids.com indicates there is no established AMBER Alerts system in place in my state. Why is that?
This means that, at this time, local law enforcement in your state does not yet have an AMBER Alert plan in place. Keep checking www.missingkids.com - AMBER Plan Locations to review an up-to-date list of states/localities with these programs.
You can contact your local, state, and federal elected officials and ask them to create an AMBER Alerts plan. If you are an AOL member, you can use AOL's Government Guide (Keyword: Government Guide) which includes extensive information about contacting your officials.
You may also want to consider looking to the experts for guidance in this area by going to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (www.missingkids.com) or the Polly Klaas Foundation (www.amberalertnow.org).
6. Can I sign up to receive all the AOL AMBER Alerts issued around the country?
When you sign-up for AOL AMBER Alerts, you sign up by zip code.
AOL AMBER Alerts will be issued to everyone who has signed up in the community, state, or region where a child has been declared abducted or kidnapped. The law enforcement agency decides how broadly it wants AMBER Alerts to be distributed.
If you want to receive AOL AMBER Alerts in other areas, you may sign up for multiple zip codes.
7. How will I know if -- and when -- an abducted child has been returned safely?
When a child is safely recovered, local law enforcement typically sends a follow-up AMBER Alert to notify the public that the AMBER Alert is cancelled. When AOL receives follow-up AMBER Alerts, we distribute them the same way that we distributed the original Alert - as soon as we receive them.
8. What if I no longer want to receive AOL AMBER Alerts?
To stop getting AOL AMBER Alerts, on AOL go to either AOL Keyword: AMBER Alerts, or go to AOL Keyword: Alerts & Reminders.
There, you will see the list of all Alerts you receive. Click the blue "On" button to temporarily turn off an Alert (for example, if you are going on vacation), or the "Delete" icon to remove the Alert from your list.
If you use AIM, select the "My AIM" menu and scroll down to "Manage Web Alerts." From that screen, follow the directions above for AOL members.
Background on AMBER Alerts
The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special "alerts" over the airwaves so to help prevent such incidents in the future.
Since their inception, Amber Alerts have harnessed the power of community involvement and successfully recovered 192 children nationwide. All 50 states now have a statewide AMBER plan in place.
AOL is a national, online distributor for AMBER Alerts - the very first of its kind of this scale in the U.S. AOL AMBER Alerts is strictly a voluntary, "opt-in" feature for AOL and AIM users. Simply put, AOL AMBER Alerts are designed to be a secondary, complementary online system of notification to the public -- reaching millions more members of the public, and hopefully vastly increasing the chances that an abducted child can be located and safely returned using the power of the online medium.
For more information on AMBER Alerts, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, www.missingkids.com.