In case you haven't turned on a television or picked up a paper for the last few months, we are in the middle of a child abduction epidemic. Oh wait, actually, the number of children abducted this year is fewer than last year at this time, but when an event captures the attention of all Americans, it warrants exploitation.
We are fighting back, however, against the dastardly acts of both hopped-up parents and shady kidnappers alike by putting forth our own version of the popular Amber Alert system. The system broadcasts information on the suspected abductor (including license plate number, a description of the car, and details about the abducted child) on highway alert signs across the relevant region.
So far, 19 states have adopted the system, most within the last year. The system is named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Texas, who was abducted in 1996; Texas created the plan later that year. Obviously, several states, including sunny Arizona, did not implement the 6-year-old plan until last year. This could easily be seen as a delayed response to what has become a rather popular issue.
If any further proof is needed, simply look to our new and improved name for the scheme—the Arizona Child Abduction Alert Plan. Amber was not good enough. According to those involved, it will function far better than it has in other states. Let's hope so.
In California, they have had a surplus of problems with the system, from burned-out bulbs to causing motorists to slow down causing traffic jams. More than one-fifth of the signs failed to work during the recent broadcast to help find 9-year-old Cierra Walden earlier this month.
One might wonder why this system is not mandated. Rest assured, the idea of making the Amber system fall under federal jurisdiction has not escaped the attention of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who hopes to make the plan our central government's concern. There is an obvious problem in that, however, since the need for the program does not seem as weighty for Conrad, Mont., as for the densely populated and highway-friendly cities of the West. If kept at a state level, each state's residents could decide to what degree they should utilize this technology.
So, Gov. Hull may be concerned about doing the job well, but if this is merely another response to the cause of the hour, one should hope that the public will respond with outrage if the system ever falls to the wayside as it loses popularity. More than 77 children have been recovered thanks to the Amber Alert, and if that number falls due to burned-out bulbs or shoddy electrical work, shame on the state that failed to maintain it.
There is, too, the matter of how much we really want overzealous motorists involved in fighting crime in a future time. If the signs display only sparse information, perhaps only the description of the car, therein lies a problem. I have frantic visions of traveling in my quite common white Ford Focus with my niece Macee and suddenly having Bubba the trucker send me soaring into the guardrail, dragging me out, and beating me like a purple-clad pimp in "Grand Theft Auto."
The point being that this is too grave a subject to be treated as something dependent on ratings like Cipro sales or voting on "Teen Idol" aspirants. Despite its problems, it has worked with stunning efficiency in every state, and unlike an issue based on having a high volume of triumph, this program is already successful: it was successful the moment it saved a child's life.
Darren Todd is an English literature major with a minor in history. Reach him at Lawrence.Todd@asu.edu.
