A national coalition of community watch leaders has named Missouri AMBER alert coordinator Jason Crites as Child Advocate of the Year.

Crites began his tenure as Missouri’s AMBER Alert coordinator in September 2022.

During his first week in the role, he began working with advocates to pioneer US.Watch, a web-based platform developed for law enforcement, by law enforcement, to coordinate the public search for abducted children during AMBER alerts.

Since that time, the search and rescue platform has been utilized across the United States, empowering vigilant citizens to help find abducted kids in a safe and effective manner.

Members of US.Watch receive enhanced local AMBER alerts that include a video brief, an individually-assigned watch zone, and a link to join the search on the US.Watch platform.

From there, users can navigate to their designated areas, connect with law enforcement, collaborate with other citizen searchers, and even win rewards for helping-all while tuning in to a live broadcast to stay up to date with the latest alert information, including search instructions, the current top searchers, and the most interesting user messages from the group chat.

Other finalists for child advocate of the year included former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, National AMBER Alert Coordinator Amy Solomon, and Greene County Missouri Sheriff Jim Arnott.

To receive enhanced AMBER alerts, assist in local search efforts, and win rewards for protecting kids, visit https://US.Watch or call (803)US-Watch.