PGR Recognizes Importance of AMBER Alert in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Arely Gómez González, head of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR), said that the AMBER alert has become a very important tool for searching and promptly locating children whose physical integrity is at risk, and that it has even led to the arrest of criminals.

“The AMBER alert is a program that breaks down the barriers of communication, time and distance, because the task of dismantling criminal groups and their operations can no longer rely on limits sets by borders or national identities,” said Gómez González.

Leading the opening of the Tri-National Meeting of AMBER Alert Program Liaisons in Mexico, Canada and the United States, Gómez González said that the program has been an expression of the commitment of the Mexican government’s compliance with various signed and ratified international instruments relating to the protection of children and teenagers’ rights.

“Regarding this matter, our countries have established the design of public policies with a focus on human rights as a centerpiece of their administration. In addition, they have developed models of public-private partnership in order to establish a multinational network to share information on missing children,” said Gómez González.

During the four years since its implementation in Mexico, the AMBER Alert system has allowed the location of at least 350 children who for some reason had disappeared from their homes.