AMBER Advocate Magazine

Issue 17

Mexico launches a nationwide AMBER Alert initiative called “Alerta AMBER,” with a unified protocol expected to be fully operational by early 2012. The initiative focuses on leveraging technology and training to protect minors and prevent crimes against children. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Southern Border Initiative, started in 2006, plays a key role in this effort, contributing to the recovery of nearly 400 American children in Mexico. AMBER Alert also partners with Facebook to post alerts visible to over 750 million users worldwide, using a main page and 53 state-specific pages that users can “friend” to receive local alerts. In Virginia, an AMBER Alert amplified through social media leads to a woman in San Francisco recognizing the victim and helping ensure her safe recovery. On November 27, 2010, Iowa’s AMBER Alert system is hacked, prompting the state to implement new safety measures, including backup plans and regular security scans, and to share lessons learned with other states. A front-line story from Indian Country highlights a successful collaboration among tribal, local, and federal law enforcement in New Mexico to rescue 3-year-old Ismyella Rodriguez after her abduction. A profile on Sam Allen, Texas’s statewide AMBER Alert Coordinator, showcases his work in developing an accredited training program and organizing an After-Action Review Board. Meanwhile, countries and territories including Romania, Australia, Malaysia, Saipan, Belgium, and Switzerland are launching or developing child abduction alert systems modeled after the U.S. AMBER Alert program.

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