PORTLAND, Ore. (PRWEB) December 8, 2005 -—
RAINS, a nonprofit public/private organization dedicated to accelerating technological innovation in homeland security and public safety, and AMBERAlert.com, a seamless, AMBER Alert network that links law enforcement and citizens in the common goal to rescue kidnapped children, announced today that RAINS’ highly regarded Connect & Protect™ program has begun delivering targeted, real-time AMBER Alerts to its members.
The AMBERAlert.com web portal allows law enforcement in participating states to directly activate and update AMBER Alerts, which are then communicated to other law enforcement, government agencies, broadcasters, other alerting partners and the public via cell phones, email, pagers, other wireless devices, fax and desktop computers. As an alerting partner, Connect & Protect proactively captures the AMBER Alert Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) data, which it then immediately sends to its program members within the public safety community.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, three of every four victims are killed within the first three hours of being taken. “AMBERAlert.com reduces the time required to issue an alert by up to 90%, which significantly impacts the number of successful recoveries,” stated Chris Warner, CEO and Founder of AMBERAlert.com. “We believe that combining the power of the AMBERAlert.com web portal with Connect & Protect, using the CAP protocol, is an example of how our technologies will change the nature of all hazards alerting for the nation.”
Connect & Protect is a community-scaled, Internet-based, information sharing network that securely connects government agencies, first responders, schools, gathering places and critical infrastructure. Connect & Protect is an early adopter of CAP, and is the first to leverage AMBER Alerts in CAP for distribution. CAP is an OASIS standard designed to make it easier for various alerting and public warning systems to interact automatically, and has gained the support of such agencies as the Department of Homeland Security and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We are very excited about this new ability to notify our Connect & Protect members immediately when a child in our region goes missing,” said RAINS Chairman and Founder Charles Jennings. “The AMBER Alerts will provide the important details—pictures and descriptions of children, suspects and vehicles, and so forth—to hundreds of our Connect & Protect members. The AMBERAlert.com system delivers AMBER Alerts in real-time, as soon as they become available, to Connect & Protect’s members, who are professional public safety stakeholders with the skills and experience to really help the search effort.”
About AMBERAlert.com
Designed as a national alerting system for AMBER Alerts, the AMBER Alert.com web portal has revolutionized the way police issue AMBER Alerts, reducing the time required to issue an alert by up to 90% and greatly increasing the likelihood that children will be recovered quickly and safely. In the event of a child abduction where serious harm is believed possible, an alert is sent from law enforcement through AMBERAlert.com to all relevant parties including other law enforcement agencies, transportation, media, and alerting partner organizations. The public plays a critical role in the success of the system, signing up to receive AMBER Alerts via cell phones, email, pagers, other wireless devices, fax, and desktop computers.
The AMBERAlert.com portal is led by the AMBER Alert Portal Consortium, a private/public partnership developed and led by state governments, the law enforcement community, broadcasters, corporate citizens and non-governmental organizations. This national public/private partnership allows state governments to leverage the newest and best in technology to save children’s lives at no cost to taxpayers. For more information, visit http://www.amberalert.com or call Kate Donlon at 480-889-2646.
About RAINS
RAINS is a non-profit, public/private alliance formed to accelerate development and deployment of innovative technology for homeland security. RAINS has forged alliances with technology companies, multiple research universities, critical infrastructure providers, local, state and federal agencies, and first responders. Its Connect & Protect™ highly secure information sharing service was launched in 2003, and has delivered hundreds of thousands of alerts without fail. Connect & Protect is described as a “radical breakthrough” by WIRED Magazine (December 2005). For more information about RAINS, visit http://www.rainsnet.org; or call Ben Berry at 503-796-5801 or Sherry Lamoreaux at 503-796-7926.
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