Child Rescue Alert

Child Rescue Alert

WHAT IS CHILD RESCUE ALERT?

Child Rescue Alert is designed to activate a fast time response to help find an abducted child before they come to any harm.

Child Rescue Alert relies heavily on the help and involvement of the public. It is a partnership between Surrey Police, local TV and radio and is supported by local business.

TV and radio have agreed to interrupt a programme to issue the alert message when requested to do so by the police. As many details as possible will be given in the message so the public can immediately help the police look for the child, offender or any vehicle involved.

The scheme is based on an American concept called "Amber Alert" and has been piloted by Sussex Police in the UK. Surrey Police was the second force in the country to introduce Child Rescue Alert.

For further details of the scheme, please visit NPIA Missing Persons and click on the Child Rescue Alert link.

When would an alert be launched?

The Child Rescue Alert scheme has four criteria which must be fulfilled before it is launched:

• The child is under 18 years old;
• There is a belief that the child has been abducted;
• There is a belief that the child is in imminent danger of serious harm or death;
• There is sufficient information available for the public to help police find the child, (for example the vehicle's registration number is known).

A senior police officer (of at least the rank of superintendent) will judge whether those criteria have been met before authorising an alert. Once this decision has been made, the message will immediately be passed to all local TV and radio stations.

How will I see or hear the message?

The Child Rescue Alert message will be broadcast to the public by radio and TV every 15 minutes for four hours or until the police cancel the alert, whichever is the soonest.

The incident will be covered on the first available news bulletin and the alert message will be seen as a banner running underneath the current television programme being aired.

What do I need to do?

Members of the public will be encouraged to keep their eyes and ears open for anything that may assist the police in recovering the abducted child. If they see the child, or the vehicle as requested, they should call the police on 999.

ALERT DETAILS PAGE

This page will be used to provide details of any active alerts or will state that there are no active alerts. When there is no active alert, the content of the page will be as follows:

There are currently no active Child Rescue Alerts within Surrey.

When a CRA is active the CRA Media Relations Officer will need to be able to update this page with the contents of the alert message, contact instructions and any other relevant supporting information.