By Jody Garlock

Working on behalf of children has been the crux of Shelly Smitherman’s 28-year career with the state of Tennessee. Early on, she investigated abuse cases for the Department of Children’s Services in Nashville.

Later, as a drug agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), she was assigned to help search in the case of Holly Bobo, a nursing student whose abduction and murder led to the state expanding TBI’s Endangered Child Alerts to include persons over the age of 18. But it was when she began working as an agent in the TBI’s Criminal Intelligence Unit that she saw firsthand the impact of AMBER Alerts.

In her first case involving a missing child, a TBI AMBER Alert for a 15-year-old girl kidnapped by her 50-year-old teacher sparked a nationwide search. Public tips ultimately led to the teen’s safe recovery in California. “I feel like we had the whole nation looking for this child,” Smitherman says of the 2017 case.

Later that year, Smitherman became Tennessee’s AMBER Alert Coordinator (AAC) and Assistant Special Agent in Charge overseeing TBI’s Missing Persons Unit, a position she has held for eight years.

“I’ve always been passionate about working investigations when children are in danger,” she says of her varied roles.

Nearly three decades into her career, that passion hasn’t changed. But the processes have, as technology dramatically shifted alerting and investigations. “I remember a time when intelligence meant writing information on a spreadsheet on a piece of paper,” Smitherman says.

It’s been five years since The AMBER Advocate talked with Smitherman, so we caught up with the law enforcement veteran to discuss changes and challenges. As it happens, she had spent the previous day issuing an AMBER Alert in a case involving a noncustodial parent who had threatened to harm his 2-year-old; the girl was safely recovered. “It’s a reminder of the importance of agencies working together for one goal,” she says.

How has the process of issuing an AMBER Alert changed in the past five years?
In the past five years, we have definitely improved the process to request an AMBER Alert from local agencies. We now have a digital request form—the “push-packet”—that can be completed on scene from a cell phone or computer. The form contains all of the essential information that we will need to rapidly issue the alert. We provide training to local agencies across the state on a regular basis to ensure agencies are equipped before a child goes missing in Tennessee.

What are some specific advancements that are helping after an alert is issued?
One of our biggest advancements is license plate readers (LPRs). Those have been a game-changer for us if there’s a vehicle involved in locating a missing child. They also give us access to find a vehicle in a different state. Microsoft Teams has been another game-changer. We can put criminal intelligence, a suspect’s driver’s license, criminal history, and the AMBER Alert poster in a Teams chat and everybody gets that information in real time. Even someone on the ground in the middle of “Nowhere, Tennessee” can have access to real-time intelligence.

Luring is a growing issue due to more children using social media. How are you addressing this in your state?
The majority of our Endangered Child Alerts—we have about 40 a year—are kids meeting with someone they met online. Luring is going to be a continued problem as long as kids have cell phones or ways to access social media. There’s no way to control it. Kids don’t understand the risks of talking to a complete stranger until maybe they’ve met up and they’re put in danger. We’re always steps behind in an investigation that involves social media because the apps and platforms they use change every day. We have to figure out ways to find them quicker, and that’s the hard part.

On the flip side, how does TBI use social media to its advantage?
One thing we do is issue alerts through Bitly. On average, about 800,000 people view them on social media. Having 800,000 people helping us look for that missing child—we definitely want that help. With that many people looking, we’re going to find the child faster.

What about any accomplishments—what makes you proud?
I’m really proud of TBI’s role in missing children investigations. We don’t stop after we issue an AMBER Alert. We’ll have at minimum 10 to 20 agents assisting on the case. Everybody stops what they’re doing and helps. Our crisis team is obviously involved. We’ll also have the criminal investigations, criminal intelligence, and cybercrime units assisting. And our Child Abduction Response team (CART) responds statewide to all AMBER Alerts. [TBI’s CART program is certified by the U.S. Department of Justice.]

What advice do you have for fellow AACs?
It’s really important for AMBER Alert Coordinators, especially new ones, to get to know the coordinators in surrounding states. I have a good relationship with the other state coordinators in our Southeast Region. We share and discuss information and ideas with each other. Tennessee is connected to so many states, so having contacts where I can reach out at any time has been a great tool. So often, I need assistance from another state during an alert, and being able to call someone I met at AATTAP [AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program] meetings or the National Symposium for help is truly an advantage and saves so much time getting to the right person in another state.

How important has your networking been?
So often, I need assistance from another state during an alert, and being able to call someone I met at AATTAP [AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program] meetings or the national symposium for help is truly an advantage. It saves so much time getting to the right person in another state, especially when time is of the essence.

What would you like local law enforcement agencies to know?
Reach out. If an agency isn’t sure if something meets the AMBER Alert requirements, call and we’ll talk it through. Sometimes local agencies may take steps—such as interviews and surveillance—that could be done after we issue the AMBER Alert. That’s time where something could have gone in a bad direction for the child, and it puts us behind in getting the public’s help to search. Every second counts, so reach out.