FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290

Blunt Conducts Inaugural Test of Statewide AMBER Alert System


Thanks in Part to a $77,000 Grant from SBC

ST. LOUIS—Gov. Matt Blunt today conducted the monthly test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that transmits AMBER Alerts. The test was conducted at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop C Headquarters in St. Louis. This month’s test marks the first time the statewide system is fully functional thanks to equipment purchased through an SBC Excelerator AMBER Alert Grant.

"Now in an emergency, a civil alert can be transmitted to all radio stations and rebroadcast to the public in a matter of minutes," Blunt said. "This improvement reduces the potential for human error to hinder the broadcast of an Amber Alert. Once an alert is initiated by the Highway Patrol, the public will immediately be able to help look for an abducted child or get vital information regarding a natural or man-made disaster."

Thanks to SBC Communications’ generous funding of 100 low-band frequency radio/receivers, law enforcement can now send out AMBER Alerts to radio stations in less than five minutes. AMBER Alerts are just one type of alert that can be sent using the radio/receivers. In the case of an AMBER Alert, the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F initiates an alert on the Web Portal then the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS system broadcasts the AMBER Alert to all radio and television stations that have a low-band frequency radio/receiver.

Tests, like today’s, are stored on the EAS equipment and then rebroadcast to a station’s listeners at a convenient break in a station’s programming. In a real emergency or civil alert, a station’s broadcast can be automatically interrupted, and the public will immediately have the information they need to help in the recovery of an abducted child.

Missouri applied for the SBC Excelerator AMBER Alert Grant because it funds projects that build the technology infrastructure of law enforcement to issue AMBER Alerts. The state received notification they were awarded $50,000 for equipment and $27,000 for training, a total award of $77,000, on Nov. 8, 2004. The funding was part of a $1 million SBC grant that was steered to law enforcement agencies for AMBER Alert efforts in each of the SBC 13-state region.

Missouri SBC President Cindy Brinkley said she is happy to enter a private-public partnership to enhance the state’s AMBER Alert capabilities.

"The AMBER Alert program is a true difference-maker," said Brinkley. "It’s a life-saver – one that we’re extremely proud to support and augment. There’s no price that can be put on the anxiety, fear, and heartbreak that a family goes through when their child is in peril. But the technology and training that have been spawned by this grant will make a difference. It will turn hours into minutes. It will help produce hugs and happy endings."

Thanks to swift work by the AMBER Alert Advisory Committee, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and SBC, the Missouri Broadcasters’ Association was able to distribute and install all of the radio/receivers ahead of a proposed deadline of October to all major broadcast stations throughout the state.

Prior to July, when the radio/receivers were being installed, the state notification system worked on a cascading model. The Highway Patrol faxed and transmitted emergency alerts through radio signals to radio and TV broadcast stations, who would rebroadcast the information to other broadcast stations in the region gradually notifying the public around the state. Now, the entire state can receive an emergency alert in less than five minutes.

"It is essential for Missouri to have a fast and direct line of communication between law enforcement and the public through the media," Blunt said. "Especially noting the devastation caused by a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, it is vital that we are able to inform the public quickly, with an AMBER Alert or an evacuation notice."


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