James
Alan Fox: Is 'Amber alert' such a good idea?
Hasty decisions
may produce false alarms, other problems
Another kidnapping case was closed last week with a happy ending.
One-month-old Nancy Chavez, snatched last Tuesday from the family minivan at a
Wal-Mart in
Her alleged abductor was arrested shortly thereafter. The news not only was
a huge relief for the infant's distraught parents, it also was a huge victory
for the "Amber alert" concept, a system being used in
Named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered
six years ago near
Descriptions of the child and abductor are broadcast on special TV or radio
channels and appear on signs that usually feature traffic information. Next
month, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, plans to introduce legislation to
create a nationwide Amber alert network.
The Amber alert system may have played an important role in helping
authorities find abducted children in
As a concept, the Amber alert system clearly is reasonable: the quicker and
more comprehensive the investigation of a missing-child report, the more likely
the child will be rescued alive. But in practice, the system raises many
questions.
What should be the criteria for launching an alert? Hasty decisions may
produce many false alarms, leading to public apathy. Missing children no longer
appear on the sides of milk cartons; as the public grew used to the photos, the
awareness campaign had less effect. Frequent alarms – false or otherwise – on
the Amber alert radio frequency also may cause people to ignore the information
or just change the station.
More important than the risk of ineffectiveness is the danger of misuse.
What should be the criteria for determining reliable information? Who might get
hurt in the process of hurriedly pursuing inaccurate leads and wrong suspects?
What might happen, for example, if an incorrect license plate of a suspected
abductor is displayed on electronic highway signs? Might some poor motorist be
pulled over by authorities or, worse, chased down by a group of angry
vigilantes?
Such concerns are especially salient in the climate of fear and hysteria
that surrounds what President Bush has called "a parent's worst
nightmare." But an examination of the available statistics shows that
child abductions and murders by strangers are exceedingly rare.
While even one incident is too many, the widespread perception that the
problem is rampant doesn't align with the facts. With an average of about 100
child abductions by strangers each year, the chances of any youngster being
kidnapped are about one in a million.
By comparison, every year many more children die from bicycle accidents than
are abducted and murdered, as was Amber Hagerman. Stricter laws about bicycle
helmets undoubtedly would save more lives than a nationwide Amber alert system.
Responses to crime too often are implemented amid a state of panic and are
poorly designed as a result. Early three-strikes-and-you're-out laws were so
broad that some petty crooks were punished far more harshly than the
seriousness of their crimes warranted.
Ill-conceived regulations for sex-offender registration led to the needless
harassment of many nonpredatory offenders. If the
Amber system is to have value, it must be crafted and assessed with calm
deliberation.
Next month, Mr. Bush plans to convene a White House summit on child
abduction and kidnapping. Perhaps by then we will be able to examine rationally
the threat of kidnapping and how best to respond.
Amber Hagerman's legacy should be greater communication and cooperation
among law enforcement agencies – not a system that deputizes an entire
community in a large-scale manhunt and threatens the well-being of innocent
people.
James Alan Fox is the Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice at