Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Selective Amber Alert - Again

UPDATED 6/25: Children's bodies found and the Father is in custody.

If he actually killed and burned the bodies of his own children there's a special place in hell waiting for him. I can't think of anything that could lead any person to do what was done to these kids.

Oh, and maybe the police had a reason not to issue an Amber Alert in this case, but I still don't see it.

UPDATED 6/18:
Still No Amber Alert. Father is now the prime suspect in their disappearance.

There are certain times you just have to call bullsh*t on something. This is another one of those times. Once again, Black children go missing, and the authorities don't even bother to put out an Amber Alert. There is simply
no excuse for this.

As local police and the FBI continued their search today for two children who vanished from a Pasadena apartment complex two days ago, the youngsters' mother questioned why an Amber Alert has not been issued.

"I think if an Amber Alert had been issued, my children would have been found already," said Jerilynn St. Cyr.

Police persisted through the night in the search for 7-year-old Randy Sylvester Jr. and his 3-year-old sister, Denim Sylvester, but no new leads were uncovered, a Pasadena police spokesman said.

So why was an alert not issued? For two days so far? Well...

Capt. Bud Corbett said an Amber Alert has not been issued because (Justice Department) criteria required to initiate an alert have not been met.

Here are those criteria.

• There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.
• The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
• There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction to assist in the recovery of the child.
• The abduction is of a child age 17 years or younger.
• The child's name and other critical data elements have been entered into the National Crime Information Center system.

How about if kids are missing, issue the darn alert. Every hour is precious and the more time that goes by, the less likely it is that the children will be found safely.

Now, I'm not going to jump all over the policemen because I have ultimate respect for the work they do, but I will say that the old "just following the rules excuse is getting a little bit old. Especially when the rules are usually most stringently followed when the missing kids are Black or brown.

Their photos are at the end of the video below, their physical descriptions are below that.




The boy, who is 4 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 55 pounds, was wearing a blue-and-orange University of Florida Gators shirt, blue denim shorts and blue-and-white tennis shoes.

The 3-year-old is about 2 feet, 5 inches tall and was wearing pink shorts, pink flip-flop sandals and a pink T-shirt with brown trim. Her hair was braided and pulled back in a ponytail, police said.

Shame!

3 comments:

HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said...

I agree with you 100%! It sounds to me like the criteria was there and the amber alert should have been issued. This is so sad. I really hope that those children are okay.

Ted McLaughlin said...

You have a point. To not issue an alert in this case seems inexcusable to me.

DP said...

health nut - Good to see you again and thanks for your comment. I wish there was uniformity in the alert system, but unfortunately that's not the case yet. I pray for the kids safety.

Jobsanger - The police have their reasons I'm sure, but none have been very compelling to me thus far. It's been three days and still no alert. They're assuming the kids are likely dead, but what if they're not?