State of Iowa AMBER Alert

What is an AMBER Alert AMBER Plan History Iowa AMBER Plan Criteria How the Iowa AMBER Plan Works Public's Role Original Committee Past Alerts Iowa Activation Forms Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Sign up for Email Notification from the Iowa Dept. Public Safety Contact Iowa Dept. Public Safety regarding this website

The following criteria is utilized to determine if an AMBER Alert should be issued for the state of Iowa:

Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted and entry has been made into the IOWA/NCIC Systems identifying the child as missing.
The child is under the age of 18.
Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.

ONLY LAW ENFORCEMENT MAY REQUEST ACTIVATION OF THE AMBER PLAN

The goal of the AMBER Plan is for the safe recovery of missing children that a law enforcement agency believes have been abducted and are in danger of serious bodily harm or death. The above criteria will be strictly adhered to in order to discourage overuse of the Amber Alert Program which would make it less effective.