The AMBER Alert is proving to be a catalyst to bring U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials working together in ways never seen before. Over 100 local, state, Tribal, and federal law enforcement officers from the United States and Mexico met in San Diego Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 2009, for the Southern Border Initiative, an effort to increase the effectiveness of the AMBER Alert to stop cross-border child abductions.

Karen Hewitt, U.S. Attorney for San Diego, said the AMBER Alert can help transcend the 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. “We know from living on the border it is two countries, but it is one region and we can come up with shared solutions,” said Hewitt.

Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said barriers between law enforcement agencies in both countries are starting to drop. “Before the AMBER Alert was in place, we had a relationship with police departments, but it was not as concrete as it is now.”

Despite the positive beginnings, Melodee Hanes, Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, issued a challenge to do more. “We need to roll up our sleeves and have frank and candid dialogues,” said Hanes. “Let’s get to work on what bonds us all, the protection of our children.”

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) reports that Mexico accounts for 47% of all international child abductions from the United States. Nevada AMBER Alert Coordinator Bob Fisher said that fact was the main reason he came to the meeting. “The biggest problem we have is that Mexico seems to be the No. 1 place where children are going,” he said.

NCMEC President and CEO Ernie Allen shared six ways children are being harmed along the border: children are being kidnapped and held for ransom; children are being abducted for retaliation or to cause fear; children are being kidnapped for extortion by “coyotes” (people who charge money to take immigrants across the border); children are being abducted and sexually victimized; children are put at risk to help drug dealers find weaknesses in border security; and children are being abducted by non-custodial parents and taken across the border.

“These kids are slaves, they are commodities,” said Allen. “I think it’s very clear the problem of transporting children across the border is bigger than we think it is and it is going to grow.”

Meeting participants identified the main obstacles between the countries: language barriers and differences in criteria, technology, knowledge and authority. They also identified goals to overcome those obstacles: provide training and a “Best Practices” guide for Mexican states; enhance communication, coordination, and infrastructure; increase the use of television, radio, and cell phones for AMBER Alerts; and partner with top officials and international transportation providers.

Mexican officials said they are ready for the challenge. “This is contagious and I am filled with energy,” said Willy Zúñiga Castillo, Agent for the Tamaulipas State Attorney’s Office. “I would like to tell you our state is at your disposal, and our common guiding light is the wellbeing of our children.”

The Southern Border Initiative meeting included federal, state, and Tribal law enforcement and child protection officials from the U.S. and Mexico. The meeting brought together representatives from Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah in the U.S. and the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, and Chihuahua in Mexico.

During the past five years, 381 children reported missing from California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas were recovered in Mexico, according to NCMEC.

Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez travels with 20 armed bodyguards while he is in Mexico because his country is at war with the drug cartels. Despite the fact he is always facing imminent danger, he said he wanted to speak at the Southern Border Initiative meeting to let everyone know how the AMBER Alert program is bringing Mexico hope.

“This new generation is trying to find hope,” said Manjarrez. “The AMBER Alert will be something positive for our country. The AMBER Alert has to do with the most important thing we have: our children.”

Manjarrez was instrumental in setting up the first AMBER Alert program in Mexico on May 13. Baja California authorities were very candid in sharing some of the painful lessons learned during their first experiences with the AMBER Alert. Tijuana initiated the first AMBER Alert in Mexico for an 8-year-old boy in June; the alert was cancelled after the victim's body was found in a suitcase, and authorities said the alert led to a tip leading them to the suspect but the media was very critical after the alert was over. Baja California initiated the second alert for a missing boy after receiving intense pressure from the media; the child was found an hour later playing at a friend's house, and investigators later learned that the child had left because he was being abused at home. Authorities also received a tip that an abducted child was being transported north to the United States; the California Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert and the child was recovered in Los Angeles, CA.

“From the first AMBER Alert, we learned we needed more coordination,” said Jesus Quinones Marquez, International Liaison for the Baja Attorney General's Office. “We learned from the second alert not to succumb to peer pressure from the different parties involved.”

Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) provided a two-day AMBER Alert technical assistance training session Sept. 1-2, 2009, for law enforcement officers and child protection workers in Baja California so they could learn about what has worked and failed in the United States.

“This is the first AMBER Alert training specifically for the needs of a state in Mexico,” said Jim Walters, an FVTC consultant. “Some things they do well but they know there are areas they need to work on. It's a work in progress.”

The training included protocols on telecommunications and investigating cases involving missing and abducted children.

“Our mission is to provide the skills to implement and maintain the AMBER Alert program and that it will lead to the recovery of abducted children on either side of the border,” said Phil Keith, Program Director for the AMBER Alert Initiative.

The Baja California Attorney General said he shares in that hope. “We had a vision of a program to address the abduction of children,” said Manjarrez. “We knew the AMBER Alert had to be a reality here but also in our entire country.”