Ten years ago, an unspeakable crime occurred that forced our nation to change its approach to child and public safety. On the afternoon of Jan. 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who liked the outdoors, was riding her bike in her Arlington, Texas, neighborhood when a pick-up pulled up beside her. Its driver got out, snatched Amber from her bike, threw her into his cab, and sped away. Four days later, her body was found in a drainage ditch. She had been raped and her throat cut. The killer remains at large.

In the days and weeks that followed Amber’s murder, residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth area flooded local radio stations with calls registering their shock and outrage. No one should be surprised that such a brazen and brutal act of violence would ignite emotions as it did.

What was remarkable about this outcry was the depth of its resonance. Callers were not simply exercising their grief or venting indignation at a compromised system of public safety. They were looking for answers. Even though they never could understand why someone would commit such a horrific crime, then at least they should try to make it impossible for criminals to carry out such heinous acts.

Local broadcasters, too, felt the impact of the tragedy, and they began to look for a role in this quest for answers. The answer came through a caller who suggested that the public should be alerted of child abductions in the same way it is notified of severe weather warnings. Local radio managers conferred and agreed that the idea had merit.

They discussed it with local law enforcement officials, who recognized its tremendous potential, and the two groups formed an unprecedented partnership. When authorities received a report of a child abduction, they would alert the community, asking that residents be on the lookout for the suspect and provide any leads so that the child could be found quickly.

The local system was given the name AMBER Alert to honor Amber’s memory.

AMBER also stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, and the acronym took hold as the system began to be adopted in states, localities and regions across the country. New and valuable partners have now entered the alliance, with transportation agencies applying their resources to the capture of abductors and private sector companies lending a big hand. However, the most important member of the coalition is the public itself, whose vigilance has been vital to the system’s success. Law enforcement officers know that they can count on citizens to respond when the safety of a child is at stake.

Since President Bush directed the national coordination of AMBER Alert systems more than three years ago, the alerts have become a significant tool in fighting and preventing crime. Only four states had assembled AMBER Alert plans, and 34 children had been rescued in the six years of its existence before that time. With the president’s signing of the PROTECT Act in 2003, states received further support in building their AMBER Alert response, and today, all 50 states have AMBER Alert systems in place, and 241 abducted children have been safely recovered and returned to their families.

Equally important, many abductions are being averted because perpetrators quickly realize that they have little hope of getting away with their crimes.

The Bush administration and the Department of Justice are pressing forward to make AMBER Alert stronger, faster and better. We are participating in a wireless AMBER Alerts initiative launched by CTIA – the Wireless Association and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which allows cell phone users to receive text messages directly whenever an AMBER Alert is issued in their area.

With more than 190 million cell phone users, the possibilities of this effort are tremendous, and we encourage every owner of a cell phone with text capability to contact their carrier for information on enrolling. And by the way, the program is free to users.

AMBER Alert has become vital to our nation’s efforts to protect children and preserve families. Citizens of communities across the country have banded together to keep their youngest and most vulnerable safe, and predators are discovering that they will find no haven in the United States. The AMBER Alert system is the most fitting and significant way to honor the memory of a little girl lost to her family, and to all of us, 10 years ago today.