What are the requirements for an Amber Alert?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - We hear a lot about Amber Alerts.

We see them on the news.

Sometimes we get alerts on our phones. They’re emergencies, and every moment matters.

But oftentimes, we’ll hear from people who ask, “Why did this child get an Amber Alert and another child didn’t?” It’s a Good Question. It’s because, in order to be an Amber Alert, the case must meet certain qualifications.

We asked Nona Best, the director of North Carolina’s Center for Missing Persons.

Nina Best: “Yeah, and most of the time, they put it in the statue specifically. It cannot be voluntarily missing or run away because of the number of juveniles that apparently run away or go missing. You can’t really voluntarily go missing.”

“You’re a missing person, but if you run on your own, the numbers are so high that we could not activate an Amber Alert on every juvenile that goes missing. So, a lot of times we get the back flack from other people who says, you know well, why did she get an Amber Alert and we didn’t get an Amber Alert.”

“That’s one of the reasons why we stick to the statue so that we can say that. We do the same across the board. You know we’re not discriminating against any one person or any situation. You know if the child is, if you see an Amber Alert on a child in North Carolina they are in imminent danger.”

So how have these alerts evolved over time?

How often does she have to deny an Amber Alert request?

Best explains that and some changes that she thinks need to be made to the qualifications for certain alerts.

You can hear our conversation with her by listening to this week’s episode of WBTV’s Good Question podcast.

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