Another Useless 'Amber-Alert' Jolts Public

As with so many of these "novelty" public warning systems put into action by "feel-good" legislation, the Amber-Alert system seems to be an utter failure.

On the surface, it seems like it might be a good idea. But on a practical level, one sees that this system has done more harm than good. A system of  "crying wolf" meant to make people feel safe, but at the same time, putting the public on edge frequently, without true cause. We don't usually hear if the missing child has ever been found all, or how the alert was finally resolved. Instead, we get a bunch of quick headlines on the news ticker, a flash on the highway traffic sign, and our Facebook walls are inundated for a day. But we never hear how things wound up.

Which is probably because, in most cases, these alerts are activated of a custody dispute, not a genuine abdusction.

But I thought this one was different. So I jumped on the public-concern bandwagon and posted about how a little girl was abducted right off the street, kicking and screaming, by two men in a truck. It sounded to me like this might be the genuine article, or the sort of case this alert system was really meant for.

As it turns out, the police can't tell when a few kids on a playground are lying and would rather create public panic rather than reach a proper investigative conclusion before crying wolf and getting the public all riled up for nothing.

According to Mid-Hudson News:

NEWBURGH – City Police in Newburgh have examined the South Junior High surveillance videos along with street camera video and footage from privately owned surveillance systems in the area of Monument Street where a five-year-old girl was reported abducted Wednesday by two men and have determined there is no indication that the abduction or any incident that could be perceived as an abduction had occurred.

There was no pickup truck, other vehicle or small child during the time of the reported incident, police said Thursday. The children who reported the supposed incident were observed on the video playing around the school without incident.

Police have not received any missing person reports and have determined the incident did not occur and have closed the investigation.

After the neighborhood children reported the incident, police issued an Amber Alert looking for two men in a pickup truck with green writing on it. The girl purportedly abducted was said to be wearing a pink shirt at the time.

One really begins to wonder why we even have programs like this in place at all. "Boutique" laws and systems named after some poor child who died in a horrific manner, and is brought back from the dead to make a cameo appearance every time the government wants to jolt the public into submission and soak us for even more dollars for inflated police budgets.

Tweet