Baja California to Launch Amber Alert
Baja California has become the first Mexican state to adopt the voluntary Amber Alert program, which spreads the word about the most serious child-abduction cases, authorities said yesterday.
Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, Baja California's attorney general, said his agency will begin issuing immediate Amber Alerts in cases where a child's life is considered at risk. Until now, Mexican officials have typically waited 72 hours before issuing an alert, to verify that the child was truly missing.
Moreno was accompanied by U.S. and California law enforcement officials in making the announcement yesterday in San Diego. He said the program will improve collaboration among agencies in both countries in cases of cross-border child abductions.
The U.S. Department of Justice plans to train law enforcement officials in U.S. and Mexican border states in the Amber Alert program, said Cecilia Duquela Fuentes of the department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Child Delinquency Prevention. –S.D.