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Technology Helps Local Law Enforcement During Amber Alerts

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Reporter: Shannon Houser

Notifying the public....and fast. That's the goal of law enforcement when it comes to Amber Alerts.

A statewide Amber Alert is issued. A man takes his young daughter. and she could be in serious danger. It may happen miles and miles away from Wood County, but local law enforcement is ready to respond.

"We sit right in the cradle of where you want to go in our region. So if it's a regional broadcast we'll place officers in those areas and utilize whatever technology we would have," Wood County Sheriff's Office Cpt. Rick Woodyard says.

And the Wood County Sheriff's Office uses their up-to-date technology to the fullest in situations of an Amber Alert.

"We can scan up to 2,500 license plates an hour if we're up on the interstate so that's a lot of tracking and it would alert the officer that that vehicle has read that plate that we are looking for and then notify him as to why we're looking for it."

The tools also help deputies track license plates even days after an Amber Alert is issued.

"We don't stop looking. The alert's usually for a 24 or 48 hour period. We do not discontinue our search until the child is found. If we stop an individual in traffic and we ran their name on our computer it would automatically alert the officer that that individual is possibly involved with an amber alert notification."

And it's not just the work of law enforcement. Technology used to find missing children involves an entire community.

"The Amber Alert system is a community based system. Radio, broadcasting, working with people to find these children. So not only do we work with area law enforcement, but we wanna work with the community, the public. That's our eyes and ears."