College receives DOJ grant to conduct AMBER alert training

The University of South Carolina's College of Mass Communications and Information Studies has been awarded a $200,000 grant to help broadcasters and law-enforcement officials work together more effectively to find missing children using the AMBER abduction-alert system.

The Department of Justice awarded the grant, which calls for USC to conduct 25 one-day training sessions beginning in October and ending August 2006 at USC's innovative Newsplex.

"According to the Department of Justice, the critical time is the first three hours after an abduction because, after that, the likelihood of the child being murdered is far greater," said Hugh Munn, a USC public-relations instructor who is coordinating the grant.

The project team also includes Charles Bierbauer, dean of the college, who applied for the grant, and Dr. Augie Grant, a broadcast professor, who is the project manager. An additional 10 faculty members will help conduct the training.

Munn said it was feedback from broadcasts nationwide that led, in part, to the grant-funded project.

"Broadcasters saw an advantage to having journalists train them because they understand the nature of radio and television," said Munn. "Newsplex will allow us to create simulations in an environment that uses the latest in technology and convergent media practices."

AMBER alert simulations have never been done to help train broadcasters or law-enforcement officials implement the alert system. USC's Newsplex, a multi-media newsroom of the future located at South Carolina ETV, provides the environment where such simulations can be done.

"We'll be able to work through scenarios and address topics such as legal ramifications, coordination between media and law enforcement, public perception, criteria for implementation, how much information should be released and how best to use new technologies," said Munn, who was the chief spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) before joining USC's faculty.

In addition to serving as a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Munn wrote the scripts for a series of AMBER alert public-service announcements for the DOJ.

Created in 1997, the AMBER Alert Plan is a voluntary effort between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in child-abduction cases to mobilize citizens in the search effort. The plan is named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl from Arlington, Texas, who was kidnapped and murdered. Criteria for issuing an AMBER alert vary somewhat between states. In addition to television and radio announcements, some states, such as South Carolina, also incorporate electronic highway billboards.

"The AMBER alert system is a very good tool, " said Munn. "It provides thousands of extra eyes and ears on the highways and in shops and homes. Our training program will sharpen emergency response skills and will make the system work even better."

A recent AMBER alert success story in South Carolina took place on March 26 in Greenville involving the recovery of a one-year-old child who was abducted by her father after the man assaulted the child's mother.

Charles Bierbauer

Hugh Munn

Augie Grant

Also on the Web:
On the Alert: National PSAs written by journalism instructor

Faculty and Staff who will be conducting the training:
Charles Bierbauer
Ken Campbell
Erik Collins
Randy Covington
Scott Farrand
Augie Grant
Cecile Holmes
Tom Klipstine
Carmen Maye
Hugh Munn
Julie Nichols
Susanna Priest
Jeff Ranta
Lisa Sisk
Rick Stephens