When Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Constable Nancy Martin started working on Canada's AMBER Alert Program in 2009 she found the system working effectively but separately. She made it a goal to make the nation's child abduction alert program stronger than the sum of its parts.
“In years past, each province did its own thing, without any real knowledge of what other provinces were doing or how it could affect them,” said Martin. “Now, as people can travel more easily and children are often transported over provincial and even national borders, the need for cooperation and teamwork has an even greater importance.”
In 2010 the RCMP hosted the first National AMBER Alert Working Group (NAAWG) Workshop to bring all AMBER Alert partners together. All the provincial AMBER Alert coordinators and others met to discuss how they could improve the system to help recover abducted children.
Martin is the National AMBER Alert Coordinator and works closely with Sergeant Jane Boissonneault, the Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager and the NAAWG Chair. They continue through online training courses and teleconferences and sending regular emails to update everyone about the latest tool or innovation.
“Without Martin's dedication to the AMBER Alert program, we would not have the 10 provincial programs running as smoothly and working together as well as they do,” said Boissonneault. “She is the ‘go to’ resource for inquiries about AMBER Alert from our partners across the country.”
The two officers have also worked with the provincial AMBER Alert programs to put protocols in place between provinces and states that border each other to clarify what will happen when a child is taken across the border.
“Nancy has always been quick to offer support during a provincial activation of an alert and she has been the unwavering champion for the program,” said Sgt. Steve Montpetit, Ontario Provincial AMBER Alert Coordinator. “She has been devoted to the AMBER Alert program and has provided a sound and consistent voice for the program on a national level.”
Martin said working with Boissonneault as a team has made significant improvements in the program, but being a mom is what keeps her motivated. “No parent wants to hear that politics or lack of preparedness stood in the way of their child coming home safely,” said Martin. “If I can help by providing avenues of training or the sharing of opportunities for improvement, I can't imagine not doing it. If we make it impossible for an abductor to hide, we make it possible for a child to be saved.”