‘Amber Alert’ for missing kids launched by SAPS, Facebook

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Cape Town - The police, in partnership with Facebook, have launched an “Amber Alert” tool for South Africa to combat child kidnappings and find missing children. It is a missing child emergency alert that triggers a message to the Facebook community to be on the lookout for a child who has been reported missing. The alerts are sent to users’ Facebook news feeds and include photos and details of the missing child. Police spokesperson Brenda Muridili said the project is to be launched today at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg. Muridili said the “Amber Alert” is used internationally.

“It is often referred to in movies and TV series,” she said.

When a child under 18 goes missing, which is classified as a vulnerable child in need of urgent police assistance, Facebook dispatches an “Amber Alert” to all its users.

“The initial alert covers a 160km radius from where the child went missing. It is dispatched immediately by Facebook to all its users within 160km radius of where the child went missing,” Muridili explained.

She pointed out that there have been great successes worldwide and that the tool was a great initiative for the police detective services.

Muridili said as soon as Facebook receives the activation email from the SAPS’s Bureau for Missing Persons, the global security team creates and activates the alert on Facebook.

“The ‘Amber Alert’ remains active for 24 hours or until the law enforcement agency cancels the alert, with the public able to report any relevant details via the 086 0010111 Crime Stop hotline,” she said.

Members of the SAPS’s senior management would be joining the management of Facebook Africa for the launch, Muridili said.

Missing Children South Africa national co-ordinator Bianca van Aswegen said hopefully Facebook’s Amber Alert would raise the awareness of all the children going missing in the country, "but more than that, hopefully, it would increase the turn-around time to find our missing children".

Van Aswegen said the Facebook community is a huge platform to raise awareness, "and we especially hope that the Facebook Amber Alert initiative will be utilised in a responsible manner, and assist Missing Children South in a positive way.''

Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz welcomed the launch and urge the police to include valuable stakeholders, such as the Social Development department, Pink Ladies and related NGOs in its rollout.

"I hope to see the positive results of the rollout here in the Western Cape,” Fritz said.

The initiative comes at a point where the province and the police are still trying to locate the whereabouts of a two-month-old Kwahlelwa Tiwane who was kidnapped on January 16 in Parow.

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