This issue of the AMBER Advocate profiles AMBER Alert activities in the Navajo Nation, Texas, and Illinois, and describes the work of various people in the AMBER Alert network, international AMBER Alert activities, and case studies of AMBER Alert services.
The Feature Story focuses on the development of Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) in the Navajo Nation. The construction of broadband fiber optic lines and connecting wireless internet to homes during the pandemic also enables the provision of correct information to everyone when a child goes missing or a community has an emergency. This was due largely to the work of Christopher Becenti, the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. In the case study of a missing child in Plantersville, Texas. Although there was no AMBER Alert issued, there was an alternative Missing or Endangered Person Advisory (MEPA) that helped get information disseminated in a timely fashion. This is reported in this issue to provide perspective for an alternative when a case does not meet the AMBER Alert requirement. The Illinois case study involved the honoring of a woman who responded to an AMBER Alert in saving a baby abandoned in a ditch. AMBER Alert Europe initiated an awareness campaign called “Friend or Monster” to inform the public about children being sexually abused or harmed by someone they trust. Officials decided on the theme because the pandemic has involved more children being confined with their abusers with fewer opportunities to seek help. AMBER Alert workers’ responsibilities and perspectives are profiled.