Child missing alert

[DennisA]

My Family and I were recently on holiday in Florida, a child went missing and an state wide alert was issued to all Mobile phone users with details of gender, age and description amd where they were last seen.

Can you raise this idea with your Local MP and your local Police Commisioner to raise the profile of the need for a similar service to be created by either the government, the regional police forces, the Home office and the <obile phone networks with some urgency.

Children go missing every single day and no one is addressing the issue or raising the concern. If a State like Florida can do it, then we can.

My local MP said it was an issue with GDPR but I pointed out to him, the GDPR rules applied when we were in the EU, now that we are not we can create our own rules and I can't see why a system like they have in Florida has anything to do with GDPR where a missing child is concerned.

Social media is also a fantastic medium, recently my Granddaughters dog bolted and was "Lost". We engaged with the Local lost Dog Rescue Facebook group in Aylesbury and within 12 hours he was spotted by Dog walkers and was reunited with my Granddaughter.
The response from Dog Walkers in Aylesbury was overwhelming.

If we can be that affective where a dog is lost, just imagine how affective we could be if a child goes missing.

I don't live in a flood danger area. So like I've saidnumerous times. A child missing alert is not needed as it's not common place. The only alert needed is terror/nuclear. That's it. And even then I'd probably be dead before I saw the message

why is an alert for a nuclear attack more desirable than for a child? I don’t follow your logic.

Surely it’s not the frequency of the danger but the gravity of it that dictates whether an alert is justified?

@Inthesameboatatmo it's a shame you think that way.
Personally if a child is missing I would want all methods available put in use to help find them.

It's the Amber alert system. It's not for any missing child, it's for selected cases where the authorities have belief that the child was abducted. 99% of missing children have either left of their own accord (row with parents etc) or are part of a disputed custody situation. Some are simply misunderstandings over arrangements. Stranger abductions are very rare thankfully and national media is engaged, not everyone has a mobile phone

There’s also the issue that these alerts can actually disrupt an investigation.

this text goes out, you get 100’s of calls from people who’ve seen the missing white, blonde 5 year old.

now the police have to wade through shitloads of unrelated “sightings”, decide what’s credible, and hope to god they don’t send their resources after the wrong information.

An alert for a nuclear attack will have a certain sound. An alert for a missing child probably won't have the same sound incase it causes blind panic and people think the world is ending. People won't look out for it not because its less desirable but because its rare to get so won't be noticed by the large general population.

A sound?

When was the last time a child was abducted or gone missing in the UK that would fit the criteria of an Amber Alert?

@Inthesameboatatmo so why do the authorities bother putting missing children on the TV news/front page of the newspapers?

@Inthesameboatatmo
Are you saying it’s not a good idea, because it won’t be effective? Or that it’s not a cause worthy of your attention because it’s too frequent an event? I’m not clear.

A terror alert notification has a certain sound. That's obvious since it's been tested recently and people receiving these. So an alert from the authorities about a missing child will have to sound different from a normal notification sound won't it. Or it won't have the desired effect by making everyone run to their phone to check.

@BarryKentPoet. This is what I'm saying.

So an amber alert in the US must meet these criteria:

Note: The AMBER Alert program issues alerts only if certain criteria are met: Law enforcement must believe an abduction has occurred, must believe that child is in danger of bodily harm or death, and must provide enough descriptive information about the case, such as details about the child, the abduction, the suspect, and/or the suspect’s vehicle

the vast majority are abductions by the non custodial parent, or a known relative.

I think the law and process in the UK around PR and familial abduction would be very different. That and the much smaller land mass/border control would make it difficult to properly disappear with a child. Enough to make the amber alert system pretty much redundant.

It’s (thankfully) pretty rare that a child actually genuinely goes missing and isn’t with their other parent. I’d hope these alerts aren’t just rushed out, as someone else has already said, what if a parent is fleeing an abusive partner or something? I’d really worry about unintended consequences in that kind of situation which is far more common than a stranger abduction situation.

There is a pilot alert system. I'm surprised your MP wasn't aware of it

It's designed for floods and terrorism at the moment, and some people are suspicious enough about it already.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4493757-Am-I-being-paranoid-or-is-the-fact-the-government-have-just-set-up-an-emergency-alert-system

When was the last time a child was abducted or gone missing in the UK that would fit the criteria of an Amber Alert?

last ones I remember where there was a clear danger to the child with press conferences etc would be Soham?

Gaia Pope maybe? Although she was 19 so not a child.

Your link doesn't work but I posted a screenshot from my phone of this alert system upthread.

That's another bit of MN not working!

Lets see if the old-style brackets still work, to place a link in a way that shows what you're clicking!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4493757-Am-I-being-paranoid-or-is-the-fact-the-government-have-just-set-up-an-emergency-alert-system

@Inthesameboatatmo April Jones was 2012 which yes was a decade ago.
It is rare for a child too go missing by being snatched (thankfully).
So really a text message once in decade isn't going to massively interrupt someone's busy life.
Might save a child's life though.

So you've just said once in a decade.
That confirms my point that it is not needed in the UK at all.

So are you saying it’s not worth the investment?

You said above you agree with terror or nuclear alerts, nuclear alerts are even less common and have a different sound. Now you’re saying they
happen so seldom it’s not worth it.

Im not trying to be antagonist but I don’t understand the point you’re trying to make.

Its just utilising existing technology, you wouldn’t have thought it particularly difficult.

@Inthesameboatatmo

who decide the sound? If it only happens once a decade could they share a sound and thus be just as impactful?

We all got a text in 2020 telling us to stay at home when the first lockdown came in. This is possible just not a utilised service.

@Inthesameboatatmo also Alesha Macphail age 6 from Scotland in 2018.
I would be happy if this is used just once in a decade if it saves a child. Unfortunately April Jones and Alesha Macphail didn't get to go home.

Thousands of children go missing. You couldn’t possibly cope with being sent an alert for all of them. You would constantly be getting alerts. No way could you have your phone on at work in case of personal emergency, or similar. It wouldn’t work