Amber Alert system offline due to funding

I've seen this before and it's in my opinion an example of how divisive/slimy politics can get. When city/state/federal governments have budget issues they shut off the "consumer" facing services to get the outrage required to move public opinion. Who would care (other then the government employees) if some obscure government agency was shuttered? This is a message. I'm curious how much the amber alert program really costs (I assume not much, a few million?) compare that to a laundry list of what's still operational and you'll see my point.

My impression was that AMBER alerts were essentially pretty much as useful as the TSA. Good for giving the public an impression of utility, but not actually effective for their purported purpose.

The reasoning is that in almost any case where a child is in significant danger of violence, there is essentially zero chance of law enforcement being able to act quickly enough to prevent that violence. So issuing an alert might help you recover a child more quickly who would have been recovered anyway, and does nothing to prevent children from actually coming to harm.

Okay, now I'm somewhat political, but have largely just steered clear of this whole shutdown business (as far as engaging in discussions), but this just seems ridiculous. How much can it possibly take to run the Amber Alert system? A dedicated server, maybe? They send out a few emails, a few texts, maybe integrate with those signs on the side of the road--I just can't see it costing that much, and should have already been pre-paid for! I don't understand the government shutting down systems which have already been paid for with tax-payer money. </rant>

Has anyone ever done an analysis of how effective these systems are? I see the alerts all the time, but I'm curious how many times a rescue has been attributed to them.

Is it really "offline", or just the website landing page? I got an "Amber Alert" out of Miami on my mobile phone yesterday. It happened while I was driving and freaked me right out. My phone was paired with my car and it managed to make the loudest most sudden noise I've ever heard in my car. It sounded like someone water-boarding a bald eagle.

Why is this political campaign being reported on HN? (The labor cost to turn it off vastly exceeds its marginal cost of operation. Ergo it was turned off by a subversive political operative.)

Criminals should be thumb-upping this