Feature articles in this issue describe a Missouri training program for law enforcement personnel in responding to child sex trafficking, Massachusetts' first AMBER Alert for a stranger abduction, an interview with the Tennessee AMBER Alert Coordinator, a report on AMBER Alert activities in Indian Country and foreign countries, and brief accounts of newsworthy AMBER Alert activities and information.
A 2-day training for law enforcement personnel in Springfield, Missouri on January 28-29, 2020, is one example of the individualized instruction the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) can provide a community through an array of course offerings. In the training described, just over 180 people listened to case study summaries and evidence-based information on how child sex trafficking victims may be reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement officers. Another feature article presents a case study of Massachusetts' first AMBER Alert for a stranger abduction. A witness to the abduction called police, who followed the AMBER Alert protocol in notifying the community with a description of the abductor's car. Based on reported sightings of the car by various community residents, police stopped the car, rescued the young girl, and arrested the abductor. The interview with the Tennessee AMBER Alert Coordinator Shelly Smitherman focuses on the features of the state AMBER Alert program and some of the lessons she has learned. The article that focuses on AMBER Alert in Indian Country features descriptions of the quarterly meeting of the Inter-tribal Council of Nevada, the Wyoming law to help find missing and murdered Indigenous people, and the Wind River Inter-tribal Council AMBER Alert implementation meeting. AMBER Alert international activities focus on Europe, Mexico, Pakistan, and Belize. The concluding section of this issue provides brief descriptions of events and issues related to the work of AMBER Alert.