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There is nothing automated about originating those alerts. The actual procedure for transmitting the alert is manual. The incident has to meet state criteria including likelihood of harm to the child, criminal activity, information about the vehicle and other facts.

A missing child in a custody dispute alone is rarely enough to trigger an alert.

One of the leading types of child abductions leading to alerts is vehicle theft with a child in the vehicle. Not a custody dispute.

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> One of the leading types of child abductions leading to alerts is vehicle theft with a child in the vehicle. Not a custody dispute.

"The vast majority of child abductions are carried out by a relative or close acquaintance of the victim, often a divorced parent who was not granted custody... about 20 percent involved a kidnapping by a stranger or slight acquaintance of the child. In the other 80 percent of cases, the youngsters were taken by a relative (most often a parent) or an acquaintance (frequently a babysitter)."

source: https://psmag.com/social-justice/amber-alerts-largely-ineffe...

[EE84M3i]

Are there any stats available about the breakdown for the subset that get amber alerts?

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Sorry, my fault for combining sentences! it was 80% of the amber alerts they studied.

"Presumably because of that need "to make an intuitive, rapid decision," as Griffin puts it, AMBER Alerts often turn out to be false alarms. Of the alerts the UNR team tracked, about 20 percent involved a kidnapping by a stranger or slight acquaintance of the child.

In the other 80 percent of cases, the youngsters were taken by a relative (most often a parent) or an acquaintance (frequently a babysitter). While such incidents can be traumatic to both the child and the custodial parent, they are routinely resolved peacefully."