TORONTO -- Toronto police say they have again received calls from people complaining about an Amber Alert, this one issued on Tuesday evening to help find five missing children. The Amber Alert was officially cancelled on
Officer Alex Li took to Twitter appealing to the public to show 鈥渃ompassion and understanding鈥� rather than frustration over the alerts.
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鈥淭he Toronto Police and Toronto Police Service Operations have been receiving calls from the public complaining about the Amber Alert,鈥�
鈥淧lease do not call police to complain, instead find compassion and have the understanding to help locate these children! Amber Alerts are issued for a reason.鈥�
The alert was issued by the Niagara Regional Police Service shortly before 5 p.m. for five children allegedly abducted by their father sometime between Sept. 19 and Sept. 25. It expired later that evening, but police said the children were still missing.
The Amber Alert was officially cancelled on Wednesday after the five children were found and were safe.
鈥淩equesting an Amber Alert is not something we take lightly,鈥� Niagara police media relations office Const. Phil Gavin told 麻豆影视 Channel.
鈥淲e recognize that we鈥檝e impacted thousands of people around this province but we wouldn鈥檛 do that if we didn鈥檛 believe it to be important.
鈥淲e know that the Amber Alerts 鈥� in the past year, (show that) people don鈥檛 remain in the community where it (the abduction) occurred -- they travel,鈥� he said.
鈥淪o just because you live a distance away from Niagara doesn鈥檛 mean they couldn鈥檛 be in your neighbourhood.鈥�
The five previous Amber Alerts issued this year in Ontario, some of which have taken place in the middle of the night, have all attracted complaints from the public.
A Toronto woman has called on the Ontario government to fine those who waste emergency dispatcher鈥檚 time with complaints.
--- With files from The Canadian Press
