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Gov. Joe Manchin announced yesterday the West Virginia State Police has entered into a partnership agreement with 12 major national wireless service providers to distribute AMBER alerts by text messaging to cell phones, becoming the second state in the nation to expand the reach of the AMBER alert system in this manner.
With this agreement, signed in cooperation with the Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, all law enforcement officers and the public will be able to receive AMBER Alert notifications by way of text messaging free of charge, upon request.
Florida state officials announced a similar agreement last week, becoming the first state in the nation to offer the service.
"AMBER Alerts have become a critical tool in our national efforts to protect our children," the governor said. "I am pleased that West Virginia can be a national leader in the effort to expand the reach of the AMBER Alert system, providing more citizens with details and descriptions of a missing child in the precious minutes and hours following a report of an abduction."
Individuals interested in receiving AMBER Alert notifications by text messaging can sign up for the new service by logging on to www.wvstatepolice.com and clicking on the AMBER Alert tab and Wireless AMBER Alert icon. Users will then be redirected to a secure site where they can enter a wireless telephone number to subscribe to the service.
The West Virginia State Police is partnering with 12 major national wireless carriers, representing 90 percent of the nation's 182 million wireless subscribers, to provide the Wireless AMBER Alert service.
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