Over 20 take part in AMBER Alert Assessment Workshop

An Amber Alert Needs Assessment Workshop was held yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan led by National Criminal Justice Training Center AMBER Alert administrator Janelle Rasmussen.

Rasmussen was joined by three other AMBER Alert team members in the training on Saipan that saw over 20 attendees from various local and federal law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Department of Justice funded Rasmussen and company’s trip to the CNMI as part of their mandate to provide training and technical assistance to states, the territories, and the tribes for responding to missing abducted children’s cases.

“Yesterday (Monday) we began really with an overview of the program, the training, and the work that we do with AMBER Alert, and then we had some discussion about how the technology works, and now we’ve moved into a portion of the discussion, where we’re listening and learning from the locals what works here on Saipan and what doesn’t work. So [we’ll know] what tools and technology resources and alerting systems we can bring to Saipan that would be beneficial in these types of cases,” said Rasmussen.

She added that they’re on Saipan through a Defense Act initiative, which requires that AMBER Alert assistance and training be provided to all U.S. territories.

“We’re here on Saipan this week to meet with local and federal officials to talk about what is needed here to protect children when a child goes missing on Saipan. What kind of training needs to occur so that law enforcement is prepared to respond so that the public has education and awareness of how they can help and what technology and resources are needed to make this program is successful in the CNMI,” said Rasmusen.

According to Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Macaranas the AMBER Alert team came here to make an assessment and to see if promoting AMBER Alert in the CNMI will be feasible.

“One of our biggest challenges here in the CNMI is our geographic area because we’re far away from the United States mainland. So, the folks came down here to kind of try to see where we’re going to be with this kind of program.”

He said he’s very supportive of the AMBER Alert program as it will be a game-changer for the CNMI.

“It’s a great tool, especially when children are missing, abducted, or kidnapped. This system would link us to other law enforcement agencies. It’s in the Pacific and the system helps locate these missing children that are reported. This tool would also help enhance our relationship with other law enforcement because of this relationship we’re able to continue our work to progressively move forward.”

AMBER Alert began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. AMBER stands for America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response and was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered. Other states and communities soon set up their own AMBER plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.

The AMBER Alert program has been successful in the United States as more than 1,000 children have been found, according to Rasmussen.

“We do have over one thousand children that have returned home because an AMBER Alert was activated. We know that this program is successful, and so we know that if we’re able to stand up the AMBER Alert program here in the CNMI, that we will be able to find missing children.”

Rasmussen and her team’s trip to Saipan is just the beginning, as they will be back to conduct more assessments and will provide a report to the Government Accountability Office. GAO in turn will submit a report to Congress.

“To let Congress know about what is working, what has been done, and what the needs are going forward to support this work in the territories, and to make sure the AMBER Alert programs exist here,” said Rasmussen.

While Macaranas said the program is not free, it’s definitely worth it considering the CNMI hopefully won’t have a repeat of the case of the missing Luhk sisters.

Maleina and Faloma Q. Luhk mysteriously disappeared while waiting for a school bus near their residence in As Teo in May 2011.

“All of these things that we’re getting is to prepare us and the long-term plan is to finally sit down and come up with a strategic plan on how to implement this and it involves a lot of manpower, data, and of course funding…but in the end, if it goes through, then we’re going to have this program here,” he said.

Aside from DPS, the Amber Alert Needs Assessment Workshop was attended by participants from the CNMI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Probation Office, CNMI Parole Board, and the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence.