English citizens a thousand years ago could not look the other way when it came to crime. The English, beginning with the rule of Alfred the Great, were financially obligated to catch criminals. It was known as the "mutual pledge system." If the Crown's citizens failed to catch an offender, the Crown's collectors would hit his citizens with a big fine. The intent was to force the entire community to play cops. Modern policing has returned to its roots, the legacy of Alfred the Great. The recent shift to community policing that shows law enforcement relying on the public for help.
Just hours after 5-year-old Maria Cuellar was lured into a stolen van and kidnapped in April 2001, she was recovered unharmed thanks to the AMBER Plan. Authorities with the Houston Police Department say a man in his 20s had enticed Maria into his stolen van. Not long after Maria was abducted an AMBER Alert was broadcast throughout the Houston region describing Maria, her abductor, and the van. After the alert hit the airwaves, a man in the community came forward and told police that he had seen a child with a man matching broadcasters" description of the kidnapper in his neighborhood. After a rapid search of the area Maria was successfully recovered and reunited with her family. Her abductor was arrested. This all happened within a matter of three hours. .
The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 when nine-year old Amber Hagerman was abducted while out on a bike ride in her hometown of Arlington. Four days after a neighbor heard her scream and saw her abducted, Amber was found dead, nude in a local creek. To this date the murder has still not been solved. The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special "alerts" over the airwaves so that they could help prevent such incidents in the future. In response to the community's concern for the safety of local children, the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed an early warning system to help find abducted children.