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Sam Penrod reporting There is now another tool to get out the word about a missing child. Utah has already been using electronic billboards to get out news of an Amber Alert. Now outdoor advertisers around the country are getting involved to get out a critical message.
It's part of a new nationwide program to use billboards to immediately alert people of a missing child, and today the system was tested in Utah. Jeremy Snow, with Young Electric Sign Company, said, "There is going to be a standard format of what this is going to look like. It will have a picture of the missing person; hopefully an updated picture, and then as much information as possible: vehicle number, make, model, license plate and so forth."
Not only will these billboards be used, but the state of Utah has already worked with owners of smaller electronic signs to put out Amber Alerts.
Paul Murphy, the Utah Amber Alert coordinator, said, "We have had hundreds of business owners, colleges, banks, a lot of folks who have signed up to receive the Amber Alerts and immediately put those Amber Alerts up on their signs, and so rather than just the highway signs you see on the road, wherever you are driving, you are going to seen an Amber Alert."
So from radio and TV, to now electronic billboards, traffic signs and cell phones, law enforcement hopes that when an Amber Alert is issued, it will reach as many people as possible in just minutes. Murphy said, "We were the first to get them out by cell phones, by e-mail. Basically, we've looked at every way we could possibly let people know that there is an Amber Alert because we truly want everyone to be out there looking for that child. Time is so critical, and we've heard from a lot of people who have seen Amber Alerts and rescued children. They said, ‘I couldn't ignore the Amber Alert. Everywhere I went, I saw an Amber Alert, and I knew I had to do something.'"
The information from an Amber Alert, including a picture can be sent to an electronic sign within minutes. That Amber Alert will stay up for the first hour and then rotate through for the next two days or until the Amber Alert is canceled.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
