OPP say a technical issue impacted the release of an AMBER alert on Wednesday night.
OPP contacted the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), its counterpart at Emergency Management Ontario, which was able to issue the alert on the OPP's behalf to LTE-connected wireless devices in the area where the child was last seen.
Investigators had reason to believe the suspect had not travelled far, per a media release.
The issue was the result of an automated third-party software update. The issue has been resolved, and the OPP's AMBER Alert system is once again fully functional.
OPP are taking multiple steps to ensure it doesn't happen again:
- OPP technical teams have been working to create a backup to circumvent automated updates that are outside the OPP's control.
- The OPP is creating a manual process to enable access to the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination (NAAD) system (also known as Alert Ready) without third-party software.
- The OPP will continue to test the system on a regular basis.
Police said the AMBER Alert system is highly effective in disseminating critical information to the public during child abductions.
