The Ontario police sent out an Amber Alert this week but not everyone got it. Here's why
The OPP says the province’s Amber Alert system is now back up and running after a “technical issue” prevented police from sending out a widespread notification about a recent abduction.
Early Thursday morning, the provincial police service attempted to use the Amber Alert system to send out information on a missing three-month-old child, who investigators said was abducted by her father in Roseneath, Ont., located just north of Cobourg, Ont.
“During the attempt to issue an AMBER Alert, the OPP experienced a technical issue. As a result, the OPP contacted the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), its counterpart at Emergency Management Ontario, which was able to issue the alert on the OPP's behalf to LTE-connected wireless devices in the area where the child was last seen,” the OPP said in a statement released Friday.
“This approach was supported by investigators, who had reason to believe the suspect had not travelled far.”
Those in regions outside of the immediate area of the alleged abduction did not receive a notification, including residents of Toronto, which is located about 140 kilometres west of where the child was last seen.
In the statement, the OPP said the technical glitch stemmed from a “third-party software update” and the issue has now been resolved.
“The OPP's Amber Alert system is once again fully functional,” the news release continued. “The OPP is taking multiple steps to ensure this does not happen in the future.”
Police said technical teams are working to create a backup to “circumvent automated updates that are outside the OPP’s control.” They will also be creating a manual process to enable access to the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System (NAAD), also known as “Alert Ready.”
“The OPP will continue to test the system on a regular basis,” the statement concluded.
“The OPP thanks the public for their engagement and patience. The AMBER Alert system has proven to be highly effective in disseminating critical information to the public during child abductions.”
The baby was ultimately found safe a few hours after the alleged abduction was reported and the child’s father was taken into custody by police.
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