Test of North Dakota AMBER Alert
BISMARCK, N.D. - The North Dakota Highway Patrol and
the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services will conduct an annual test
of the AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert system.
The test will be conducted from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, May 22.
All components of the AMBER Alert
Program will be tested. Advance notification is important to avoid
misinterpretation of this test as an actual AMBER Alert.
AMBER Alerts are recorded on the
North Dakota Department of Transportation’s 511 Road and Weather Information
System and are displayed on the NDDOT roadside message signs, the nd.gov and
AMBER Alert websites, and on scrolling banners at North Dakota Lottery terminal
sites. Five AMBER Alerts
involving six children have been issued in North Dakota. Five of the six
children were successfully recovered. Nationwide,
AMBER Alert has been credited with the successful recovery of 688 children.
The goal of an AMBER Alert is to
instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe return
of the abducted child. The AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary
partnership between law enforcement, state agencies, the National Weather
Service, and the North Dakota Broadcasters Association to activate an urgent
bulletin in child abduction cases meeting AMBER Alert activation
criteria. NDDES, in collaboration with the NWS, uses the Emergency Alert
System to provide a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor to
statewide radio and television broadcast stations that disseminate the information
to the public. Please register at www.wirelessamberalerts.org to receive text notifications of
actual AMBER Alerts that occur in your area.
