teleguy
Enthusiast
May 17, 2005, 9:13 PM
Post #1 of 1
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AMBER Alerts: Sprint a leader in delivering free wireless text messages.
05/17/2005 Wireless phone carriers who battle each other on a daily basis for new customers can agree on something that’s important to the customers they already have – when it comes to abducted children, fierce competitors become allied forces.
Few are better equipped than a wireless carrier to help bring a missing child home. That’s why Sprint is among the first wireless carriers in the industry to provide free AMBER Alerts to millions of customers who opt-in for a service that will deliver text messages, enabling customers to assist law enforcement in the search for and the return of abducted children.
Today, in a mid-morning Washington, D.C., press conference, three organizations combine to announce the first-ever wireless industry tool that will help empower millions of Americans to aid in the recovery of abducted children. CTIA – The Wireless Association and the Wireless Foundation join NCMEC in the national press conference announcing industry support for AMBER Alerts. Later in the day another press conference is taking place on the West Coast in Sacramento.
Statistics show that when a child is abducted, the first three hours are the most critical to recovering the child alive. Recognizing their unique ability to provide timely assistance to law enforcement in these unfortunate situations, the wireless industry and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have officially partnered to launch Wireless AMBER Alerts, an initiative that will help galvanize 182 million wireless subscribers in the search for an abducted child.
Len Lauer, president and chief operating officer for Sprint, said our customers can now harness the power of wireless data in another truly important and innovative way. “Our partnership with NCMEC is a perfect match between the two organizations,” Lauer said, adding that Sprint customers have already demonstrated an affinity for sending and receiving wireless messages.
“It’s exciting that millions of our customers have the opportunity to add their eyes to AMBER Alert searches and potentially help save lives,” Lauer said.
AMBER stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response” and was created in 1997 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children.
Through the Department of Justice, the AMBER Alert Program was soon adopted across the nation and is a legacy to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then murdered. According to NCMEC, more than 200 children have been recovered since the AMBER Alert program began in 1997.
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