More than 200 participants from at least 25 tribes gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the 2016 National Symposium on Tribal Child Protection and AMBER in Indian Country Leadership Forum. The events were held July 18-21, 2016, and were hosted by the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program.
The Leadership Forum addressed the limited resources and staffing Tribal agencies experience by bringing together Tribal law enforcement executives in a discussion of how leaders can address missing and exploited children issues within their communities.
With the rise of technology-facilitated crimes against children in Indian Country, the National Symposium on Tribal Child Protection focused on addressing child protection issues including child exploitation, human trafficking, and endangered and abducted children. The event promoted development of cohesive community programs that can create long term solutions to these issues.
Presentations and discussions emphasized improving crime prevention efforts and successful prosecution of those guilty of committing technology-facilitated crimes against children in Indian country. Issues of limited resources and staffing of Tribal agencies were also addressed.
Featured speakers included a Native American survivor of human sex trafficking, gangs and addiction; the detective who helped convict “The Big Rig Killer,” a truck driver implicated in the murders of 14 women, including a 19-year-old Native American woman; and sex trafficking victim advocate Cindy McCain, who offered participants important information on resources available for sex trafficking victims.