On June 4th, a Dutch AMBER Alert was issued for a 16-year-old boy from Zutphen, The Netherlands. The boy was found in good health thanks to a tip from a vigilant citizen who recognised the boy from the AMBER Alert.
AMBER Alert is issued when a child is missing or abducted and the Dutch police fear that the life of the child is in imminent danger. The system enables the police to immediately alert the public nationwide, by means of electronic highway signs, TV, radio, social media, PCs, large advertising screens email, text messages, apps, website banners, and pop-ups.
Currently, AMBER Alert has 3 million participants including thousands of large organizations. In addition, the last AMBER Alert that was issued, was seen by more than 12 million Dutch citizens (89 percent of the Dutch population). With a success rate of 94 percent, the Dutch AMBER Alert system is an example of effective citizen sourcing.
