LOUISIANA AMBER ALERT

The following criteria MUST be met before an AMBER Alert is activated:

• Law enforcement confirms a child, aged 17 or under, has been abducted.
• Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
• There must be enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will assist in the recovery of the child.

Only Law Enforcement Agencies May Request an AMBER Alert. If your 

Step 1: Local Law Enforcement Investigates

• When an individual is reported missing, local law enforcement must first investigate to confirm that the situation meets AMBER Alert criteria. This includes confirming the abduction, determining that the child is in imminent danger, and obtaining sufficient descriptive information.

Step 2: Local Law Enforcement Submits a Request

• Local agencies must first call the Louisiana State Police Fusion Center at 1-800-434-8007 to advise them of the forthcoming request.
• Requests can be submitted online, by fax, or by emailing the Louisiana Alert System Initial Reporting Form. The form should include all vital details, and the agency must also provide a recent digital photo of the child and/or abductor.
• Once all details have been submitted, the agency should call the LSP Fusion Center again to confirm receipt of all information.

Step 3: The Request is Reviewed & Alerts are Issued

• The entire AMBER Alert activation process is a detailed, ongoing procedure until the case is resolved. After LSP personnel receive the Reporting Form, it is reviewed to ensure it meets the criteria and contains sufficient information to make an AMBER Alert activation viable. Follow-up telephone calls may be required for more detailed information or clarification. If approved by the LA AMBER Alert State Coordinator or their designee, the information is formatted for the voice message to be disseminated to Louisiana broadcasters.

  The information is then forwarded to the LSP Command Staff, the State's AMBER Alert partners, and a backup copy is faxed and/or emailed to the media statewide. All on-duty patrol troopers, all law enforcement agencies statewide, and the Louisiana Lottery receive the AMBER Alert information. If applicable, the LA Department of Transportation and Development is requested to activate its variable message boards.

  All AMBER Alerts will be sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) by LSP.

Step 4: Status Updates

• The local agency will provide regular updates on the case to the Louisiana State Police until the child is recovered. These updates should include any new information, developments, or changes in the situation. Continuous communication ensures that the alert remains accurate and that all relevant parties are informed of the latest status, enhancing the chances of a successful recovery.

Following the initial alert, the AMBER Alert will be broadcast every 20 minutes during the first three hours and every 30 minutes thereafter for the next two hours. Local broadcast stations may choose to repeat the message more frequently and decide on the frequency of re-broadcasting after the initial five-hour period. Once the Louisiana State Police receive official notice that the child has been found, an "end of alert" message will be issued to cancel the AMBER Alert.

If a case does not meet Louisiana's AMBER Alert criteria, there is a Level II Endangered and Missing Child Advisory. The Louisiana State Police will forward the available information to all media statewide. The requesting law enforcement agency and its telephone number will be listed as the public contact. A Level II Advisory may be upgraded if new information warrants it. This advisory does not use the Emergency Alert System and will not interrupt programming.

Custodial disputes do not typically qualify for an AMBER Alert because the criteria for activating an AMBER Alert are specifically designed to focus on cases where a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.

Custodial disputes may qualify for an AMBER Alert if credible evidence emerges during the dispute suggesting that the child's safety is at risk of serious harm or death. In such cases, law enforcement agencies would assess the situation based on established criteria to determine the appropriateness of issuing an AMBER Alert.

Contact your local law enforcement IMMEDIATELY!
Often the first 24 hours are the most critical for locating a missing child.

• If the child is missing from home, begin by thoroughly searching the house. Be sure to check any places a child could crawl, hide, and possibly fall asleep.
• If your child disappears when you are away from home -- at a shopping center, for example -- notify the manager of the store and the security office. Request assistance in finding your child. Then telephone the police immediately.
• If your child has run away, contact friends of the child; chances are good they've confided their plans to a friend. This information should be provided to law enforcement.
• When talking with law enforcement, try to stay calm. Identify yourself, and give your location. Ask that an officer be sent to take a report on your missing child.
• Be prepared to give descriptive information on your child, including name, height, weight, and date of birth. Also provide information on specific identifiers such as eyeglasses, braces, pierced ears, and a description of the clothing your child was last seen wearing.
• Listen carefully to the instructions of the police and respond to their questions.
• Request that your child be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center's (NCIC) Missing Person File. This will assist other law enforcement agencies in identifying your child if they are located in another community. An NCIC entry for a missing child is required by state and federal law.
• Contact the Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-434-8007.
• Contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling their nationwide toll-free number 1-800-THE-LOST.

The Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters take the Louisiana AMBER Alert program very seriously and will not tolerate any attempt to abuse or misuse the system. Due to the increased trend in the exaggeration of circumstances stated in order to prompt the activation of an AMBER Alert, the Louisiana Legislature amended L.R.S. 14:403.3, which took effect on August 15, 2005.

§403.3. Reports of missing children; procedures; false reports or communications; penalties

            A.(1) Any state or local law enforcement agency receiving a report of a missing child or the recovery of a missing child and having reasonable grounds to believe the report is accurate shall do all of the following immediately after receiving the report:

            (a) Enter the name of the child into the National Crime Information Center's database.

            (b) Notify each of the following of the facts and contents of the report:

            (i) The Department of Children and Family Services to the extent that the reporting is required pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title VI of the Children's Code.

            (ii) The office of state police, if it did not originally receive the report.

            (iii) The office of the sheriff for the parish in which the report was received, if it did not originally receive the report.

            (iv) Any other local, state, or federal law enforcement agency that the law enforcement agency receiving the report deems necessary and appropriate depending upon the facts of each case.

            (2) The law enforcement agency may also notify any other appropriate local, state, or federal agency of the fact and contents of the report.

            B. No person shall knowingly file a false missing child report with a law enforcement agency.

            C. No person shall intentionally communicate false information concerning a missing child, or the recovery of a missing child, to a law enforcement agency when such information is communicated with the specific intent to delay or otherwise hinder an investigation to locate the child.

            D. Whoever violates the provisions of Subsection B of this Section shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars or be imprisoned for not more than one year, with or without hard labor, or both.

            E. Whoever violates the provisions of Subsection C of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not more than five years.

            Acts 1985, No. 393, §1; Acts 2005, No. 503, §1; Acts 2012, No. 446, §1; Acts 2012, No. 454, §1; Acts 2012, No. 477, §1, eff. June 3, 2012; Acts 2020, No. 96, §1.

1. The legislature deems it necessary to utilize all forms of communication available to transmit information concerning child abductions. The "Amber Alert" system is the cooperation between law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to disseminate urgent bulletins in the most serious child abduction cases via the national Emergency Alert System to air a description of the missing child and suspected abductor.
2. The [Louisiana Lottery] corporation shall enter into an agreement with the state police to help distribute information provided by the state police. The corporation will transmit a message to all on-line retailers which will be displayed on the lottery terminal. The corporation will encourage retailers to print and post the abduction information received in their stores, thereby increasing the distribution and visibility of vital details about child abductions.
3. The agreement shall also include provisions to authorize the transmission of other information the state police may consider imperative to be distributed to the public relative to other abductions or state or national emergencies.
   Acts 2003, No. 229, §1.

1. Louisiana's statewide "AMBER Alert" system is a cooperative effort among the Louisiana State Police and local law enforcement agencies, Louisiana Sheriffs' Association and Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, working in conjunction with the Amber Alert Foundation of Louisiana, the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, radio and television stations, the Louisiana Cable and Telecommunications Association, cable television operators, the Louisiana Lottery Corporation and its retailers throughout the state and other entities who may become an active component part of this effort. This statewide system provides law enforcement agencies with intermediary access to the transmitted signals of those radio and television broadcast stations and cable systems, across the state which voluntarily participate during the critical minutes following an initial report to local authorities of the abduction of a child. By utilizing remote access equipment linked to the National Emergency Alert System (EAS) and an electronic mail network, maintained by the Louisiana State Police, all radio and television broadcast stations, cable television operators and the Louisiana Lottery Corporation will receive an alert to interrupt programming, via the EAS, and transmit information about a child's abduction. Accurate information about the disappearance, together with a photograph and description of the child, will be disseminated to as many residents of the state as possible as quickly as possible. Citizens having information which may lead to the recovery of the abducted child will be requested to contact law enforcement agencies by calling 911, or their local law enforcement agency.
2. Overutilization of the EAS or false information could render the "Amber Alert" system ineffective; therefore, all necessary precautions to authenticate information and limit interruptions of local radio and television broadcasts shall be taken.
3. Any state police officer, members of other law enforcement entities, radio or television broadcasters, cable television operators, lottery corporation or lottery vendors who transmit or display, or who fail to transmit or display such information concerning an abducted child, and other entities who may become an active component of this effort, shall not be liable for any civil damages or criminal penalty as a result of any acts or omissions relative to the "Amber Alert" program.
4. The immunity herein granted to state police officers, members of other law enforcement entities, radio and television broadcasters, cable television operators, lottery corporation or lottery vendors as provided for in Subsection C of this Section shall extend to and include the officers, directors, members and employees of the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, Louisiana Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the Amber Alert Foundation of Louisiana.
   Acts 2003, No. 59, §1, eff. May 23, 2003.

A. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, jointly with the secretary of the Department of Social Services, shall institute a pre-Amber Alert action plan. The plan shall, at a minimum, consist of one or more programs to:

(1) Advise and educate parents on ways to prevent their children from being abducted.
(2) Advise and educate children on ways to prevent them from being abducted.
(3) Encourage parents to have readily available vital information about their children, such as a recent photograph and the child's height and weight, for law enforcement to use in case the child is abducted.
(4) Coordinate with and encourage the private sector to participate in secondary distribution programs that will enable the distribution of vital information on a child that has been abducted, including the creation and distribution of flyers and emailing and text messaging Amber Alerts.

B. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Department of Social Services may promulgate rules and regulations, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, to carry out the provisions of this Section.

C. The provisions of this Section shall be implemented provided funding is available.
Acts 2005, No. 503, §3.