The sight of an 8-year-old girl's pink and green Punky Brewster shoes will likely be an image no one will forget from the 2009 National AMBER Alert Symposium. The shoes were worn by Sayeh Rivazfar on September 21, 1988, the night she and her 6-year-old sister, Sara, were abducted by a family friend.
“I'm going to give you the path that these shoes walked in,” Rivazfar told the symposium audience. “I loved those shoes. They were brand new to me. What those shoes went through is an eye opener.”
Rivazfar showed the shoes she wore and described in detail how Ray Wike took the two sisters out into the woods, repeatedly raped her and then slit the throats of both girls. “He told me to say my prayers and took out a knife and began to cut my throat over and over again,” said Rivazfar. Her sister's screams eventually stopped and Rivazfar realized Sara did not survive the attack.
Wike was convicted of the horrific crimes and died in prison. Rivazfar went on to become a New York State Trooper and continues to share her story so more will be done to hold dangerous criminals accountable and protect children. “We can be part of the change, a positive direction in saving our children and turning that criminal system into a justice system that works for us, and not the criminals,” said Rivazfar.
Ron Laney, Associate Administrator at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, thanked Rivazfar for sharing her story with nearly 350 participants at the Tampa symposium on October 27-29, 2009. “We are about bringing criminals to justice,” said Laney. “We need to keep everyone informed and do a better job working together.”
AMBER Alert: A Five-Year Review
Much work has been done since the first National AMBER Alert gathering in Dallas in 2004. Phil Keith, AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program Director, offered the highlights of the past five years: 495 children have been saved directly from AMBER Alerts, most during the past five years; every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have adopted AMBER Alert programs and more than 70 local, regional and Tribal plans have been developed; more than 8,200 people have been trained at 159 programs or regional and national conferences; and nearly all of the people trained said they learned something significant, with 75% changing their behavior and their policies in missing and abducted children cases.
“The AMBER Alert Program is working,” concluded Keith.
“When you consider that even one child harmed in an abduction is too many, you can appreciate the magnitude of what you have accomplished working together,” said Mary Lou Leary, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. Leary was serving as the Acting Assistant Attorney General and National AMBER Alert Coordinator at the time the symposium was held.
Technology & AMBER Alerts
Technology is rapidly changing the way AMBER Alerts are delivered and received. Bob Hoever, Associate Director of Special Projects in the Missing Children's Division for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), shared some of the new methods being used, including more alerts being automatically placed on commercial electronic signs, with Hoever noting it is important to have a good template for alerts and use actual phone numbers because some cell phones do not list letters on the keypad. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are being used to get out AMBER Alerts, and Hoever encouraged AMBER Alert Coordinators to develop their own sites and to discourage the public from distributing what may be phony or outdated AMBER Alerts. The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) are being developed to transmit emergency messages, including AMBER Alerts. Some AMBER Alert partners are using computer pop-up messages, video screens in taxis and restaurants, and automated phone notification plans like “A Child is Missing” to help notify the public.
“Your program should utilize technology, but technology should not run the program,” said Hoever.
Endangered Missing Advisory
Numerous states are also adopting plans to notify the public in cases that do not meet the AMBER Alert criteria. Utah AMBER Alert Coordinator Paul Murphy gave an update on the Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA), an alert that is sent to law enforcement, the media and the public when a person is missing and believed to be in danger. Today 31 states have non-AMBER Alert notification plans, expanding from only five states with plans in 2005.
“The public needs to know law enforcement officers are actively looking for a child even though an AMBER Alert is not issued,” said Murphy. He encouraged AMBER Alert partners to develop a single alert plan that includes all ages before legislators or other government officials create multiple alerts for different ages and circumstances. A Best Practice Guide for EMA's has been written and will be released to AMBER Alert partners after a review has been completed by the Department of Justice.
Child Abduction Response Teams
The Child Abduction Response Team (CART) is fast becoming the best program to make sure every AMBER Alert plan includes a comprehensive recovery plan for child abduction victims. So far more than 200 teams from 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Canada have received CART training.
Citrus County Florida Sheriff Jeff Dawsy shared how the CART helped bring every resource possible for the Jessica Lunsford case in 2005. The small agency called out the CART the day after the team had finished its training. CART helped handle more than 3,000 leads and provided search teams in the air, water and ground.
Despite the massive effort, John Coey, a registered sex offender, had taken the nine-year-old girl from her bedroom and killed her. “If a Coey can live in Citrus County, then there is one in every area and they are just waiting to abduct a child,” warned Dawsy.
During a CART workshop, Utah CART Commander Jessica Farnsworth shared how an activation for a child abduction convinced her that 36 members were not enough for a team. She developed a new organizational chart and began recruiting between 160-200 members from numerous agencies for the Utah CART. “It is better to split up the team into two so half the team can trade off every 12 hours and keep everyone fresh,” said Farnsworth.
The Role of Broadcasters
The symposium also highlighted the roles of broadcasters and the media in bringing abducted children home. Andy Hill, Media Relations Sergeant for the Phoenix Police Department, said that it is important to keep the focus on the child during an AMBER Alert. “While the media is required to report on an AMBER Alert, focus is often fixated on how the case is handled rather than the case itself,” said Hill.
Lucy Caldwell, Public Information Officer for the Fairfax County, Virginia, Police Department, said one of the most important things to do during an AMBER Alert is to express empathy. “The community must know the agency cares before they begin to care what the agency has to say,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell offered these tips for public information officers during alerts: acknowledge uncertainty and do not oversell what your agency can accomplish, explain that a system is in place to find information when answers are not immediately available, and acknowledge people's fears and give the public a way to help.
“Ultimately, the public wants to know how they can protect themselves and their family,” added Caldwell.
Best Practices
The symposium also offered best practices to be considered for every AMBER Alert plan. The AMBER Alert Coordinator must make sure all partners are on board before, during and after an alert. Tips offered to AMBER Alert Coordinators during an activation included giving a heads up to media that an alert is going to be initiated, calling for a CART as quickly as possible, making themselves available to answer AMBER Alert questions, not second guessing an activation or caving to pressure from the media or public, and keeping the focus on finding the child while letting the public know everything possible is being done to bring the child home.
After the alert, formal reviews should be held with the initiating law enforcement agency and key AMBER Alert partners to find areas of strength and places for improvement in each plan. “One of the reasons you've been so successful is that you are constantly looking for ways to improve your response to children in danger,” noted Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary. “You've made America a safer place for our children.”
Partners Against Crime: NCMEC & 911 Call Centers
NCMEC has created a new program to help telecommunicators respond better to cases involving missing and sexually exploited children. The “911 Call Center Partner Program” allows call centers to become partners by making a commitment to following best practices in training and policy.
Call centers become NCMEC partners by adopting the ANSI-approved “Standard for Calltakers when Handling Calls Pertaining to Missing and Sexually Exploited Children,” completing NCMEC training and then providing the training to all call takers, and implementing a formal, measurable, quality-assurance process for all calls involving missing and sexually exploited children.
“Time is the enemy in the search for a missing child, and 911 call centers are critical to a fast response because they are often the first to know when a child is in trouble,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. “That is why collaborating through our 911 Call Center Partner Program is a vital step in making sure we are all working together to help protect our children.”
As a NCMEC Partner, a call center will become part of the NCMEC family and receive preference for training and participate in development of training and testing new approaches to finding missing children as quickly as possible.
Why Victims Don't Always Flee
Lyndsey Ryan was 14 years old when she ran away with a 56-year-old convicted sex offender. She left with him after a long-term online relationship and secret meetings in person. The man threatened to kill her family if she tried to leave or disobey him. He also terrorized her by driving by homes and giving graphic details about how he had abused other boys and girls.
“Giving in to him is what I had to do to survive for what I had brought upon myself,” said Lyndsey. “I would not have left compliantly if I wasn't in fear.”
When Lyndsey finally did leave, she said the justice system treated her like a criminal. The public offered no sympathy because she went with him “willingly.” Social workers put her in a lock down facility for four and one-half months. “I couldn't tell people what happened without being judged,” she said.
“She was hardened, bitter and alienated,” said Carol Ryan, Lyndsey's mother. “She was determined to take care of herself because no one else did.” The mother and daughter shared their story at the 2009 National AMBER Alert Symposium so other victims can get help without judgment. “It's my hope that you treat the next compliant victim with love and respect,” added Carol.
One of the world’s foremost experts on mind control also spoke at the conference and explained how child abductors convince victims to stay. Licensed Mental Health Counselor Steve Hassan said captors instill false beliefs and fear to gain control of the victim.
“A person under mind control can't visualize being away from the captor and being fulfilled,” said Hassan. “There are tricks that are so slick or subtle that unless you know about it you are a sitting duck.”
Hassan uses the BITE model to explain the four areas where a captor will try and control a person: Behavior, Information, Thoughts and Emotion. Hassan recommended building trust, gathering information and strategically planting doubts to help a victim gain back control. “You ultimately want the person to empower themselves to take time away from their captor,” said Hassan.
If a child has been abducted, Hassan warned law enforcement and families from attacking the suspect in public. Instead, he suggested convincing the captor that you want to work with him to help the child. “They (captors) want to believe they are great,” said Hassan. “You play to their ego to help bring your child home.”
Eventually Lyndsey Ryan was able to get counseling to deal with the issues of running away with a sexual predator. She has reconciled with her family, and she is now serving in the military. Lyndsey said Hassan's presentation made a lot of sense with her own experience and hopes others will be less judgmental towards victims who do not flee. “I think predators have the ability to manipulate,” said Lyndsey. “More understanding is needed about mind control.”