West
Trenton -- Attorney General Paula T. Dow
today announced a revised AMBER Alert plan
designed to provide law enforcement officials
with clear criteria to determine when they
should activate the emergency broadcast
system to seek public assistance in locating
a child who was recently abducted and is
believed to be in danger, including family
abductions.
The
Attorney General announced the revised plan
at the New Jersey State Police’s Regional
Operations and Intelligence Center (ROIC),
where alerts are disseminated to the broadcast
media following a reported child abduction.
Attorney
General Dow directed that the AMBER Alert
plan be re-evaluated and that clearer criteria
be developed in the wake of the tragic death
of Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, who allegedly
was thrown from the Driscoll Bridge on Feb.
16 by her biological father. The father
has been charged with murder. Local police
issued an emergency notification to law
enforcement agencies regarding the abduction,
but did not request the State Police to
activate the AMBER Alert System. It was
learned that the criteria previously established
were not clear enough regarding family abduction
cases, leading some to believe that an AMBER
Alert was not to be activated in a family
abduction case.
Given
the timeline of the abduction of Zara, as
established by the evidence gathered in
the case, investigators have concluded that
it is unlikely that an AMBER Alert issued
after the baby’s mother called police
would have led to the rescue of the baby.
However, the case highlighted the need for
revisions to New Jersey’s AMBER Alert
plan.
“The
relationship between the suspected abductor
and the child is a relevant factor to consider
in gauging the risk of harm to the child,”
said Attorney General Dow. “However,
it is vitally important to make clear to
all law enforcement officials that an AMBER
Alert may be activated by the State Police
in a case involving an abduction by a family
member if there is reason to believe the
child may be in danger. These changes to
our AMBER Alert plan will serve to better
protect children in New Jersey.”
The
AMBER Alert system is a voluntary, cooperative
program that establishes a partnership between
the law enforcement community and the broadcast
media. The program is named after Amber
Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl from Arlington,
Texas, who was abducted and brutally murdered.
“The
key to a successful AMBER Alert plan is
to have in place clearly defined criteria
that law enforcement officials can use in
exercising their discretion whether to request
the media to interrupt regular television
and radio broadcasts and issue an emergency
notification,” said Division of Criminal
Justice Director Stephen Taylor.
While
the U.S. Department of Justice offers guidance
and recommendations on the criteria to be
used in issuing an AMBER Alert, there are
no uniform national standards. Each state
is responsible for developing its own activation
criteria.
With
the revised plan, the State Police have
developed a training program for all appropriate
law enforcement personnel, including 9-1-1
operators, to identify the questions that
should be posed to a person who is reporting
a family abduction. In addition, the State
Police have created a worksheet to help
identify and document facts used to determine
whether it is appropriate to activate an
alert.
“This
new policy will be accompanied by new training
for dispatchers, including specific questions
that dispatchers will address to those reporting
abductions in order to gain a clearer picture
of the circumstances,” said State
Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes.
The
revised
AMBER Alert plan takes effect immediately.
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