LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State Police announced some changes to the AMBER Alert system starting January 1.
Starting in 2017, AMBER Alerts will only be issued for cases of child abductions, involving victims under the age of 18, according MSP. All AMBER Alerts will now be broadcast with a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA).
Previously, WEAs were only broadcast when a suspected vehicle license number was available. Also, AMBER Alerts will no longer be issued for missing children who have wandered away on their own and have mental or physical disabilities.
“Any time a child goes missing, it’s an urgent situation and we should all pay attention; however, in the case of child abductions the urgency is even greater,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP in a press release. “By tightening the standards for issuing an AMBER Alert we will ensure these alerts are utilized in only the most dire of circumstances to get credible, useful information out to the public in order to bring abducted children home safely.”
Michigan State Police have created a new category for missing child cases called an Endangered Missing Advisory. This category has no age restrictions and will be sent to media outlets in the area of the incident. This advisory will not be broadcast with a WEA.
For more details, visit the Michigan State Police website.
