HB 3556 has been authorized by means of lawmakers and is now expecting Governor Greg Abbott’s signature. This invoice has been nicknamed the “Athena Alert” invoice and it has the doable to lend a hand regulation enforcement and households all over lacking youngsters investigations.
The invoice permits regulation enforcement to factor a regional lacking kid alert with none affirmation or standards of abduction, making it more uncomplicated to release an alert even if a kid’s disappearance does not meet the present Amber Alert necessities.
The invoice is known as after Athena Strand, a seven-year-old who was once kidnapped and murdered in North Texas in November 2020. Her mom, Maitlyn Gandy, testified prior to the Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety in April 2021, pleading with investigators to factor an Amber Alert when her daughter went lacking. Unfortunately, Gandy was once met with the reaction that the standards for an Amber Alert was once now not met.
The Athena Alert machine will permit a police leader to factor warnings inside of a 100-mile radius of the place the kid was once reported lacking and throughout neighboring counties, making it more uncomplicated for regulation enforcement to behave rapid and get the phrase out when a kid is lacking.
Dr. Alex del Carmen, an Assistant Dean at Tarleton University and a professional in Law Enforcement, supported the invoice, mentioning that “this particular bill makes perfect sense.” However, former Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson expressed some issues about probably including every other layer of alert machine which might distract the public and probably forget about a real Amber Alert.
Despite issues, as soon as signed, the Athena Alert machine is anticipated to start on September 1, 2021.