COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Amber Alert system will not be a casualty of the federal government shutdown, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which assists in issuing the alerts.
“Law enforcement agencies across Ohio are still able to issue Amber Alerts and the State of Ohio and [the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] will still activate all systems associated with the alerts,” patrol Capt. Rob Jackson, Ohio Amber Alert coordinator, said.
Media reports have indicated that the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs has had to shut down the website due to a lack of funding because of the stalemate between the House and Senate.
The Ohio Amber system is initiated by local and state authorities and has not been impacted by the shutdown, Jackson said. The system is available 24-hours a day and includes secondary alerting systems from NCMEC, which include alerts sent to truckers, and statewide secondary systems such as highway information boards and lottery terminals.
“There recently has been a lot of media attention regarding the government shutdown, specifically the Amber Alert website. Although the federal level website for information purposes is not active, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children continues to provide operational support for each Amber Alert program in the nation. Nothing has changed” said Robert Hoever, NCMEC’s Director of Special Programs, Missing Children Division.
The website that has been affected is an informational website only. The Amber Alert program has not been shut down, Hoever said.