Amber Alert Initiative advances across Indian Country

Now, the Amber Alert in Indian Country initiative is bringing the lifesaving alert system to Indian Country.

“We know when a child goes missing time is of the essence,” Janell Rasmussen, Amber Alert program administrator said. “It is important that we work quickly, and we aren’t looking for resources at that time, we already know what’s available.”

Amber Alert started in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas. Yet the Amber Alert wasn’t brought to Indian Country until two decades later.

The AAIC initiative, which is part of the Amber Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program of the National Criminal Justice Training Center, started in 2016 after Pamela Foster’s two children were abducted on the Navajo Nation Reservation. Desperate to find her children, Foster scrambled to get an Amber Alert out, only to find the Navajo Nation didn’t have a system for such alerts.

Foster’s son was able to escape and seek help, but by the time state authorities issued an Amber Alert, 24 hours had passed, and her daughter, Ashlynne, had already been murdered.

Foster began working closely with legislators to create the Ashlynne’s Mike Law Amber Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018, which made Amber Alert systems available in Indian Country and allowed tribes to become eligible for Amber Alert grants.

Because of the law, the AAIC initiative is able to dedicate one million federal dollars a year to the cause, according to Rasmussen.

AAIC provides training opportunities, resources and technology toolkits to tribal law enforcement agencies to help them prepare for when a child goes missing on tribal land. So far, AAIC has partnered with 172 tribes, with efforts to expand to all federally recognized tribes.

States such as California and North Dakota have also begun using Feather Alerts for missing Indigenous people. As the crisis of MMIP becomes more publicized, some state legislators recognize the need for Feather Alerts to fill the gap.

Since tribal police cover rural communities that span large geographical areas, a response plan can help them quickly contact the appropriate jurisdictions and begin searching immediately.

“We’re focused on developing programs within tribal communities so they have a coordinated response when a child goes missing,” Rasmussen said. “It’s important that a missing child in Indian Country receives the same attention as anyone else.”

One of these programs is the Child Abduction Response Team, which creates a game plan for a rapid response to a child kidnapping. Through the AAIC website, police departments can register for response team training, and apply for CART certification or recertification.

In 2018, when Greg O’Rourke began working in Klamath, California, as the police chief for the Yurok Tribal Police Department, a Child Abduction Response Team didn’t exist in the area. AAIC staff reached out in 2021 or 2022.

“This entity was bringing awareness and they weren’t being judgmental,” O’Rourke said. “It’s sometimes easy to look at a lack of resources and pass it off and say, ‘Well you need to get this done,’ but AAIC would help tribes identify their own resources and try to work with the tribe on how they can best maximize their resources.”

In addition to forming a Child Abduction Response Team, O’Rourke implemented trauma-informed policing.

“We all come from a place of historical and intergenerational trauma,” he said. “If we don’t understand that, we can’t provide the best services. Working with Amber Alert, they saw that approach too and were gracious enough to embrace it as well.”

Currently, AAIC is working to bring their expertise to more tribes. They’ve asked O’Rourke, because of his passion for trauma-informed policing, to assist with the trainings.

Law enforcement can apply to access the training programs through the AAIC website. Training is tailored to tribal police but is also open to other jurisdictions. The website also features dozens of resource guides for law enforcement, parents, community members, youth workers and child advocates.

A series of videos by Bravebird, an Indigenous-led film agency, promotes the program on the AAIC website. The videos highlight Foster’s story while showcasing CART training and advanced searching technologies on the Pueblo of Pojoaque Reservation in New Mexico.

“What I learned in this beautiful project is that there are solutions,” Miranda said, adding, “There are so many different reasons why people disappear, and some of these technologies can help address it sooner before it’s too late.”

In addition to helping tribes develop a Child Abduction Response Team, AAIC is bringing CART certifications to departments. AAIC staff also connect tribal law enforcement with resources and contacts at state and federal agencies.

“I think Amber Alert is in a really good place with their contacts. They’ve done so much work and investment visiting reservations across the country,” O’Rourke said.

Now, if a child is abducted from a tribe that has partnered with AAIC, an alert will finally sound.