SA Police Service (SAPS) recently launched a tool to help find missing children, in partnership with Facebook.The #AmberAlert is a missing child emergency alert which works by distributing a message through a system that will enable the Facebook community to actively participate in finding missing children.
The tool’s system is designed for activation in the shortest possible time after a child has disappeared. Once police send an alert to Facebook, Amber Alert will deliver a notification to users in a 160km radius from where the child was reported missing.
“If a child goes missing, we get the information directly from the SA Police Service. They will create a poster that has all the information about the missing child. They will send us that information and we will prepare that. We have a team waiting 24/7, 365,” said Emily Vacher, Facebook’s Director of Trust and Safety.
The police will need a photograph of the child and any other information which may help Facebook users to recognize the missing child. For an alert to be pushed out, the missing person has to be under the age 18 and law enforcement officials need to have a “reasonable belief” that the child is in imminent danger.
National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole welcomed the tool, saying it would add to one of many of the police’s crime-fighting strategies. He highlighted that the tool was an example of how social media could have a positive impact on people’s lives. The initiative will be adopted in all parts of the country.
“The initiative will also impact positively on our investigative capacity and response times to find missing children and we anticipate an influx of anonymous tip-offs emanating from the implementation of Facebook’s Amber Alert,” the commissioner said.
Sitole explained that the police use a term called fusion Centre which refers to a social media activation plan which will link up Facebook said Sitole. Over and above, he says that the new tool will enable the police to communicate with communities who may not have all facilities.
