RCMP in Vernon tell us they're "looking into" questions surrounding the decision to issue an Amber Alert on the week-end...after a fifteen year old girl departed her residence, with her father.
Frankly, I'm afraid the horse has already departed the barn on this one.
There have already been too many Amber Alerts. The boy has cried "wolf" too often. I don't know about you, but when I heard the story about the Vernon teen, and the fact police thought she was with her father, my reaction was to shrug and think 'here we go again'. That's not supposed to be the reaction to an Amber Alert. It's supposed to be about finding a missing child, right now before it is too late, because that child is in immediate and real danger of never being seen again. Sorry, but most parental "abductions" don't qualify.
The fact the girl in this particular case was subsequently found, safe, is not my point. I do not base my criticism on one particular outcome...but rather on an impression that has built up over a number of instances. A good idea has been allowed to be watered down through overuse.
This is Frank Stanford
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