A view of Shiprock, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation. Photo by Bowie Snograss via Flickr
The Navajo Nation is seeking to establish the first tribal-specific Amber Alert system, the Associated Press reports. The tribe received a $330,000 grant in 2007 to develop a regional system, the AP said. But the effort was never completed and leaders have faced criticism following the murder of an 11-year-old girl who had gone missing on the reservation in May. To respond to the concerns, President Russell Begaye formed the Alert System Task Force and set a 60-day timetable to come up with a new plan. Training has already begun for first responders on the reservation and officials will be working closely with their counterparts in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah in the event of future missing children cases. “Those are the challenges on how we’re going to bridge those gaps and get those alerts out,” Harlan Cleveland, who serves as the Navajo Nation’s new Amber Alert coordinator, told the AP. “We still have to call each state and say, ‘here’s what’s going on.’” Eventually, the tribe hopes the system will include an Amber Alert notification system, a 911 system and an overall emergency alert system for the reservation. Get the Story:
Navajo Nation works on Amber Alert in shadow of girl’s death (AP 7/8)
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