(Columbia) March 30, 2004 - A committee of law enforcement officials that review the Amber Alert system say it worked well in two recent child abduction, but officials agreed to make changes after people questioned two alerts issued this month.

It was a false alarm in one case. In the other, there are questions about whether law enforcement acted quickly enough. Agencies from across the state are working on a difficult balance, trying to balance panicking parents and saving the lives of children.

The state issued an Amber Alert when Larry Fountain, 12, was reported missing from Camden Middle School on March 18th. It turned out Fountain ran away, because he was upset that he received detention.

The question raised was whether investigators knew that Fountain was in trouble in school. Camden Police Chief Joseph Floyd says it was a consideration that may have led him to run away versus the belief that he may have been abducted, "You're not going to give more weight to a minor detention. We're talking a minor detention, that's so insignificant, but it was apparently significant to this child."

Law enforcement has to meet four vague criteria before they can issue an Amber Alert. One being, "Have all possibilities for the victims disappearance been reasonably excluded?"

Jeff Moore with the South Carolina Sheriff's Association says a judgement call could mean life or death, "Even though the child turned out not to be kidnapped, we certainly felt that the facts that law enforcement had at the time warranted action."

Moore is also part of a statewide committee analyzing the Amber Alert system, "If you cry wolf too often, nobody's going to listen to it."

Both the Camden case and another in the Upstate less than a week later are raising eyebrows. Hunter Allen Thompson was abducted from a Kmart in Anderson. Thompson was found unharmed, and a suspect was later arrested.

The Amber Alert on March 25th wasn't issued until five hours after Hunter disappeared. Anderson County Sheriff Gene Taylor complained it took too long to issue the advisory.

Moore says there was confusion over who should activate it, "We can't afford that kind of confusion in the future." The State Law Enforcement Division has required an officer to go through training before being authorized to ask for an Amber Alert. Now, any officer designated by supervisors can ask for the alert.

The committee is changing the way the Amber Alert standard is written by re-valuating the Amber Alert signs you see on the side of roadways and encouraging more officers to attend Amber Alert training.

A committee member told News 10 on Monday that although training has always been offered in the past, it was sparsely attended in some counties.

An Amber Alert is issued by SLED for a child 16 years or younger and thought to be in immediate danger. The system also applies to any aged person who is physically or mentally disabled and thought to be in danger.

By Kara Gormley
6:29pm by BrettWitt