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Lottery retailers will now get real-time Amber Alerts in Pa.
by Michael Sadowski
Pocono Record
January 14, 2011
The 17-inch, flat-panel television screens at all lottery retailers across the state now will be able to display real-time Amber Alerts to customers, the state said Thursday.
Lottery officials said the system recently had been upgraded to show real-time updates, and displaying Amber Alerts in addition to lottery information seemed logical.
"It may not seem like an ideal match," said Kirstin Alvanitakis, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Lottery. |
"But the lottery is kind of unique because it's located at so many points across the state, and we're getting people when they're out of their homes, when they're traveling, when they're on the road."
Lottery tickets are sold at more than 8,700 locations across the state, from grocery stores to bowling alleys to restaurants.
Amber Alerts, started in Pennsylvania in 2002, provide information about child abductions through radio and television broadcast messages, digital billboards, highway advisory signs, text messages and e-mails, state officials said.
The state's lottery system has been printing Amber Alerts in text form on individual tickets since 2004 when the lottery volunteered to participate in the program, said state police spokesman Jack Lewis.
If an Amber Alert were in effect, lottery tickets printed at retail terminals would give the information. The lottery also has self-serve kiosks across the state, but those do not have the flat-panel screens.
However, some have dynamic message screens — scrolling text messages — that the Amber Alerts can be displayed on. Not every kiosk in the state has those screens, Alvanitakis said.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110114/NEWS/101140345/-1/NEWSMAP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amber Alerts: Texas school issues warning after child approached by stranger
A Texas school has issued a warning after a child was approached by a male stranger who reportedly tried to lure the child into a vehicle. According to the safety alert issued by the Coppell Independent School District on January 13, 2011, the incident occurred near the Austin Elementary school campus at approximately 7:40 am. The child did not enter the vehicle and is safe. The incident occurs 15 years after Texas child, Amber Hagerman, 9, was abducted and found murdered four days later.
According to the safety alert the Coppell ISD is working with local authorities and campuses as they stress the importance of teaching students about “stranger danger.” You may read the announcement issued by the school district here:
Safety Alert: January 13, 2011 Coppell Independent School District
The school district advocates that children walk in pairs, remain alert and aware of their surroundings and notify adults immediately regarding any suspicious activity.
You may see videos regarding missing children and find real time alerts regarding missing children in Texas in the video player on the site.
http://www.examiner.com/amber-alerts-in-national/amber-alerts-texas-school-issues-warning-after-child-approached-by-stranger
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Houston Amber Alerts Have 93 Percent Success Rate
Amber Alert Celebrates 15 Years
HOUSTON -- Hundreds of families nationwide have been reunited in the 15 years of Amber Alerts.
The Amber Alert program celebrated its 15th anniversary Thursday.
In Houston, the first child featured in an Amber Alert in 2000 was found and is in the sixth grade.
Samantha Collazo was 2 when she disappeared from her living room.
Her mother, Evodia Collazo, said she still does not know what happened to her little girl. The toddler was found wondering in a parking lot 10 hours later.
"I thought that I would never see her again," said Collazo.
The Houston Amber Alert system has featured 127 children, with 118 found alive, five found deceased and four still missing. That is a success rate of nearly 93 percent.
"The Amber Alert program actually disseminates the information to the community so if they see something, they report it," said Beth Albert, CEO of Texas Center for the Missing.
Collazo said she is thankful to the system that helped reunite her with her little girl.
"I feel very happy, like I was born again cause I thought I was never going to see her again. Now I got her with me," said Collazo.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/26486558/detail.html
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Morgantown Company Boosts Amber Alert Capabilities
Amber Vision offers images of children abducted to law enforcement officers.
(Video on site)
by Stacy Moniot
MORGANTOWN -- Thursday is national Amber Alert Awareness day, and social media like Facebook make it easier than ever to help law enforcement find missing children.
Since 2005 Amber Alerts have asked for the public's help in ending every parent's nightmare, the abduction of a child.
“We know enough information about the child, the abductor, the suspect's vehicle which would facilitate the location of the child,” Cpl. Devin Barger with the West Virginia State Police said.
That information is only useful if the public sees it and acts on it, though.
“Time is very important,” Cpl. Barger said. “You never know what could happen to a child in five minutes so, the quicker that people tell us if they see the vehicle or see the suspect, or have any information, the quicker we can find that child and bring that child home safe.”
Drivers could traditionally find their Amber Alert information on electronic billboards, like the two in Monongalia County. One is on Interstate 79, and the other on Interstate 68. Now, thanks to technology the information is moving faster and can reach you almost anywhere.
Jason Hodge shows the 3-D image of a girl taken from a digital photo. It turns from side to side on the screen.
“We're getting this picture out to the public so that the kid can be identified from multiple angles,” Hodge said. “So if you only see them from one of those extreme angles it can still be useful.”
This is one of the tools of Morgantown-based Amber Vision. All children in West Virginia's public schools are already enrolled in the program. If they're abducted, the traditional Amber Alert information will go directly to law enforcement's smart phones, along with the child's photo.
“And then the cameras on the Blackberry can be used to get a facial recognition match for just extra assurance that the person found is the person missing,” Hodge said.
Hodge says he's thankful they haven't had to activate Amber Vision in West Virginia yet.
Anyone can sign up for Amber Vision; it's free to West Virginia residents. There are also wireless Amber Alerts available to any phone with text messaging capabilities.
http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=92617
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