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I noticed something similar while visiting Texas last year. We have an Amber alert in my home state but it is triggered maybe 3 times/year.

When I was in Texas I received the alert 3 or 4 times in a couple of days. The people I was visiting seemed to think that was typical.

It seemed to me that the alerts weren't very localized.

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Yes, they can be annoying, but Texas has a pretty big population, and kidnappers can travel pretty quickly.

Law enforcement can't see everything, even if they have a "BOLO" (be on the lookout), but with millions of people on the roads, someone might spot the kidnapper's vehicle.) Issuing Amber Alerts sooner rather than later (or not at all) is optimal and the Amber Alert system in Texas has definitely resulted in some child rescues before those kids disappeared forever, especially if they have plate numbers or descriptions.

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