Message from the Chief
On behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Division of Police (DP), I would like to personally thank you for your interest in our AMBER alert program. An alarming number of children are reported missing or abducted every day in this country. AMBER alerts enable law enforcement to act swiftly to help recover each child using guidelines provided by the Department of Justice and various state law enforcement agencies. The first AMBER alert program was established in 2002 and has resulted in saving the lives of 518 children. The Division of Police has established a policy that all personnel issued wireless devices within the DP must participate in this program as part of our community policing efforts. Please help us in these efforts, and take a few minutes to subscribe. It is in the best interest of all the NIH employees to participate in this worthy program.
Sincerely,
Alvin D. Hinton, M.S.
NIH Chief of Police
Wireless Amber Alert Program
How does it work?
As of January 1, 2013, AMBER
Alerts™ will now be automatically sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts(WEA) program to millions of cell phone users. If you have a WEA-enabled phone,
you are automatically enrolled for the three alerts: President, Imminent Threat
and
AMBER Alerts. The addition of AMBER Alerts to this notification system is a
result of a partnership between CTIA and the wireless industry, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
How to Subscribe
Consumers do not need to sign up for this
service. WEA allows government officials to send emergency alerts to all
subscribers with WEA-capable devices if their wireless carrier participates in
the program.
However, certain social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and internet companies (Google Public Alerts, Yahoo Alerts, and Amber Alert apps) support Amber Alerts by making them available through their services, if you sign up for Amber Alerts within these services. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children maintains a listing on their
website.
For more information regarding the AMBER Alert program, contact the NIH Division of Police at 301-496-2387 and ask to speak with a Community Policing Officer.