Law enforcement officers in Texas, California, Arizona, and Mexico worked together to safely recover a child during a mock abduction exercise on March 18, 2016. The AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) provided an Internet-accessible platform for collaboration and the real-time interaction of all participants. The event presented participants with a challenging scenario-based incident involving a child abduction in Mexico in which coordination and assistance from AMBER Alert Plans in the U.S. was utilized to safely recover the child.
The first of its kind tabletop exercise included representatives from Dallas and Laredo, Texas; Sacramento, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, Mexico. On May 25, 2016, Mexico also hosted an International Missing Children’s Day event with AMBER Alert coordinators from Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Janet Turnbull, resident legal advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) program, was involved to support Mexico’s Alerta Amber program.
“This new training method allows us to test the technology needed to connect child protection officials in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and continue to improve our ability to react quickly and effectively to abductions and predators across our borders,” said AATTAP Director James Walters.
“We are looking for ways to increase cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. on cross-border abductions involving children,” expressed Turnbull. “This training helps us accomplish this important goal.”