NM State Police explain Amber Alert protocol in the wake of Sunland Park kidnapping

The kidnapping of a 3-year-old Sunland Park girl, now found safe, has captured the attention of many borderland residents in the past 24 hours.

Viewers contacted ABC-7’s newsroom, asking why an amber alert wasn’t issued for Victoria Rodriguez’s disappearance.

Police say Rodriguez was taken by her aunt, Natalia Figueroa, who had previously taken care of the girl for about 6 months. Police said Victoria’s father has custody of her.

According to U.S. Department of Justice guidelines: law enforcement must first confirm an abduction. Guidelines state: “To allow activations in the absence of significant information that an abduction has occurred could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness.”

Law enforcement officers must also have descriptive information about the victim, who is 17 years or younger.

They also need to believe the child is in imminent danger. Although, officers are cautioned to use their “best judgment” in each individual case.

For example, you may remember last year in La Mesa an amber alert was issued after a man allegedly set a home on fire, before taking off with a 2-year-old.

In El Paso, an amber alert was issued in August after a man allegedly fired rounds from a shotgun at his child’s mother before taking off with a one-year-old child.

In this most recent case, New Mexico State Police Spokesman Carl Christiansen said: “We went over the schematics for what constitutes the amber alert. Given the fact that the aunt who was the primary suspect, was also the care giver up until about a month ago, didn’t meet the criteria due to the child wasn’t in imminent danger of great bodily harm.”