What's in a name?

If you'd paid any attention to local news in past few days, you might've seen NSW police raising an Amber alert in relation to a child who went missing from Grafton. As it turned out, the girls father was responsible, and she was found safe and well a few hours later. She was in Southport with a father who looks as though he's at the very least tried meth, so the jury is out on just how long she would have remained safe and well. But I digress.

On hearing the news on ABC, I recalled reading something years ago that related the the name given to an Amber alert, but couldn't quite think of the details. Fortunately, in 2019, we have the interwebs on hand to answer such trivial questions.

Firstly, an Amber alert is issued under extreme circumstances when a child under 18 is abducted; considered to be in serious danger of injury or death; and sufficient information about the perpetrator can be provided. Essentially, an Amber alert exists to assist authorities in recovering an abducted child when time is of the essence, by engaging the public as extra eyes and ears on the ground. So, if you were a north coast local yesterday morning and heard the the Amber alert raised on TV/radio/internet, you weren't just being informed - you were being asked to pay attention, and potentially be a helping hand in rescuing the young girl.

Moving on, let's find out just why it's called an Amber alert.

On the 15th January, 1996, a 9-year-old girl named Amber Hagerman was abducted in broad daylight, in front of her brother in Arlington, Texas. Four days later, Amber's body was recovered in a nearby creek. She'd been murdered, and to this day no suspects have been identified.

Following the media attention and lobbying by Amber's family and others for strengthening the laws relating to child kidnappers and sex offenders, The Amber action plan was implemented. Amber was also contrived in the acronym America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.

Amber's alert is similar to Megan's law - another gruesome case whereby a child was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered. This led to legislators making adjustments to and introducing new laws governing a register of sex offenders, and requiring them - some for life - to continually update law enforcement on their whereabouts, place of residence and employment.

That's what I learned today.