What is a" Qualifying Abduction?"
Law enforcement must first confirm that a child has been abducted. The request must be recommended by the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction. The Iowa Amber Plan is ONLY activated by law enforcement when the following criteria have been met:

1. Law enforcement has confirmed a child has been abducted.

2. The child is under the age of 18.

3. The circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that a child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.

4. There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.

Missing adults, runaways, and children taken in custody disputes DO NOT qualify for Amber Alert activation in Iowa.

How will the radio and television stations obtain the information about child abductions?
When law enforcement officials have determined that a qualifying abduction has occurred, the communications center of Iowa State Patrol will be notified and provided with facts and information. The ISP communications will confirm all the necessary criteria has been met and issue an Amber Alert via the State Emergency Alert System (EAS).

Are stations required to broadcast an Amber Alert?
Again, this is a voluntary program…however IBA encourages all Iowa Broadcasters to participate as the success of the program depends greatly on the maximum number of people hearing the message quickly and being on the lookout for the abductor. If a child in your community were abducted, you would certainly want the benefit of the Amber Alert Program.

After receiving/broadcasting the initial Amber Alert, what should be done for follow-up? The Amber Alert will only be sent one time over the EAS system. We ask that for the next 2 hours you broadcast the information a minimum of every 15 minutes. This is done by either taping the original message and playing it back, transcribing the information and having your personnel read it over the air, or followed up by your news department. Whatever method you may use, it is important that the information be aired in the early hours of the abduction. Some cases may be resolved quickly within hours of the first alert, while others may remain unsolved for days or even weeks. In extended situations each station must decide how often it will continue to broadcast the information.

What if my station is un-manned when an Amber Alert is issued? Since the initial alert will come via an EAS activation using the CAE code, the alert will override your normal programming just like a weather warning would do. (This assumes that when you operate un-manned you leave your EAS in AUTO pass mode). Once the initial EAS alert terminates it is up to you to decide how to staff your station to start the every15-minute updates.

Once the EAS activation occurs, where do we go to get the necessary information to follow-up the Amber Alert process? Stations will get very specific Amber Alert data from anyone of the following three state website resources…up-to-date information will be available in printable form at any of these resources:

BOOKMARK…

When is an active Amber Alert completed? The first few hours are critical. Under normal circumstances, the Amber Alert should be considered complete 5 hours after the initial EAS activation. The two exceptions to this rule would be if the Iowa State Patrol receives enough new or updated information to issue a new EAS activation. The process would then start over from that time. The other exception would occur if the State Patrol were to determine that conditions warranted an early termination/cancellation, stations would be notified through the previously outlined channel.

What should be the station policy if a citizen calls to report a child abduction? The station should direct the person calling to immediately call local law enforcement or 911.

How often will the Amber Plan be tested? The hope is to test the Iowa Amber Plan 1-2 times a year, with specific dates and times yet to be determined. All stations will receive notification prior to testing.

Iowa EAS Co-Chairs:
Joe Schloss, 712-262-1240, jschloss@ncn.net
Jim Davies, 319-335-5740, jim-davies@uiowa.edu