AMBER Alert in Indian Country – Issue 2 2020

On January 31, 2020, AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program and AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AATTAPAIIC) team members Tyesha Wood and Tanea Parmenter attended the quarterly meeting of the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada (ITCN) in Sparks, Nevada. During this meeting, they provided a brief presentation on the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018 and the ongoing efforts by AATTAP-AIIC to support its implementation. The ITCN is comprised of members from the 27 tribes in Nevada. The purpose of the Council is to promote opportunities for the tribes and to assist with the tribe’s partnerships with local and state organizations. AATTAP–AIIC staff will continue to collaborate with the ITCN council members and assist tribes in developing programs that protect children and support the work being done with missing and exploited children programs in their communities.

Wyoming law enforcement agencies are now required to collect more information and better collaborate across jurisdictions on cases involving missing or murdered Native Americans. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill on March 9, 2020, that will also help the state’s two tribes implement their own AMBER Alert systems. The legislation requires Wyoming law enforcement to include biographical information on reports to give the state better data on the number of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

“For the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho, we all have our stories,” said Wyoming Legislative Representative Andi Clifford, an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. “This is a step in the right direction.”

On March 11, 2020, the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program and AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AATTAP-AIIC) team, in partnership with the Wyoming State AMBER Alert Program, conducted a one-day AMBER Alert in Indian Country Implementation Meeting with the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council in Fort Washakie. The Wind River Inter- Tribal Council is comprised of members from the two tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, which combined have approximately 12,500 total enrolled members. Representatives from the Wind River Indian Community, Wind River Police Department, and surrounding state and county law enforcement agencies were also in attendance. The purpose of this meeting was to bring together representatives from Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, and the Wyoming State AMBER Alert Program, to develop strategies for implementing AMBER Alert Plans for tribes in the aftermath of a child abduction.

During this meeting, staff from the Wyoming State AMBER Alert Program provided a presentation on its missing persons programs and resources, specifically explaining the protocol for working collaboratively to request and issue an AMBER Alert. Presenters emphasized their continued commitment to cooperate and assist the Wind River Indian Reservation and the Wind River Chief of Police with continued AMBER Alert training. The Wind River Tribal Community representatives and State Representatives also met to discuss state resources and valuable information to ensure a cooperative effort to enhance response in the event of an endangered missing or abducted child. The meeting concluded with a discussion of the role and duties of a possible AMBER Alert Coordinator within the Tribe to represent the Wind River Indian Community, and with concurrence to work with the Wyoming AMBER Alert Program on development of an AMBER Alert activation plan for the Tribe.