Since the association was announced last July - the first of its kind in the world - membership has jumped from an initial figure of 14,000 to more than 30,000.
"I think that's awesome," Amber Alert co-ordinator Cpl. Todd Chadwick of the Miramichi Police Force said Friday.
Amber, which stands for Atlantic Missing Broadcast Emergency Response, was developed in the United States following the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman, near Dallas, Texas, in 1996.
By using media outlets, police can quickly disseminate a victim's name, his or her description and information about the suspect and vehicle being used.
With Facebook now part of the mix, that same alert information can now be sent to more than 30,000 Facebook members across the province, substantially increasing the chances of quickly ending an abduction, Chadwick said.
There are 500,000 Facebook accounts in New Brunswick - representing two-third of the province's population.
While an Amber Alert has never been used in New Brunswick, as membership grows, the power of the partnership can only increase, Chadwick said.
With news organizations slowing down on weekends, or after hours, getting the alert message out to as many people as possible becomes more of a challenge.
Facebook will allow that to happen more quickly, Chadwick said.
Unlike regular Facebook pages, the Amber Alert site doesn't feature advertising, nor are people allowed to post comments, he said.
Over the last few months, the New Brunswick Amber Alert program has been working with other provinces to assist them in setting up their own Facebook-related sites.
Currently, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario either have it set up or are in the process of doing so.
As of this past week, all U.S. states now have Facebook connected with their respective Amber Alert programs.
In the December edition of the U.S.-based Amber Advocate, the online publication, quoting information provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, found that children are at most risk for being abducted when going to and from school or school-related activities.
Of the more than 4,200 attempted abductions for the five-year period from February 2005 to March 2010 in the U.S., the organization found that:
* 38 per cent of attempted abductions occur while a child is walking alone to or from school, riding the school bus or riding a bicycle;
* 37 per cent of attempted abductions occur between the hours of 2-7 p.m. on a weekday;
* 43 per cent of attempted abductions involve children between the ages of 10-14;
* 72 per cent of attempted abduction victims are female;
* and that 68 per cent of attempted abductions involve the suspect driving a vehicle.
The study also found most children escape attempted abductions by strangers through their own fast thinking or fierce resistance.
Chadwick said more improvements are planned for Amber Alert New Brunswick over the coming year.
The Amber Alert-Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/AMBERalertNB.
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