12 states to transmit messages via cell phones

Arizona and Washington inaugurated the system Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A new technology debuting in 12 states will significantly extend Amber alerts, reaching cell phones, e-mail and handheld computers, and could also be used to transmit weather and terrorism alerts.
"It might not be the all-alert system, but the backbone is going to be there," said Chris Warner, president of E2C in Scottsdale, Ariz., which led the system's development. "Homeland Security could take it right over."
Police officers in Arizona and Washington, starting Monday, were able to send Amber alerts -- notifications of a child abduction -- from a highly encrypted system in their cars then update them with photos and more detailed descriptions, Warner said. Ten other states are expected to launch the expanded alerts this summer.
"The goal of this is to make it so pervasive, no one will be stupid enough to take a child," said Warner.
Using the new system, people with cell phones can sign up for Amber alerts with county or state authorities. The text of an alert can be shot immediately to local TV news programs' Web sites, with automatic updates.
Cooperative effort
State agencies and companies including Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. and Symantec Corp. worked together for 18 months to develop the system, donating a total of $4 million in development time, Warner said.
The 10 other states set to join the initiative: Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Oregon. Also Monday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said his state also would soon join the mobile alert program.
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