Silver Alert Each alert has specific criteria that must be met in order to be activated, and they can only be activated at the request of a law enforcement agency. They are: What is an AMBER Alert? Governor Rick Perry signed the AMBER Alert - America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Alert - in memory of Amber Hagerman in 2002. Hagerman was 9 years old when she was kidnapped and killed in Arlington. A law enforcement agency can request the AMBER Alert if it meets these criteria: The child is 17 years or younger and law enforcement believes them to be in immediate danger.