What police want you to know about Amber Alert week in Saskatchewan

Jan. 13 marked National Amber Alert Awareness Day in Canada. Police forces across the province gathered to demonstrate what goes on behind the scenes in an Amber Alert.

In the past 10 years, there have only been nine Amber Alerts in Saskatchewan, in 2024 there was only one.

Police issue only one alert, unless there are updates. Once the alert is over, police will send another alert to notify the public. They will state if the abductee is unharmed physically.

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Kelly Michaud, RCMP AMBER Alert communications strategist is a part of the team that creates what you see and hear when an alert is sent out, said they use automated voices as it speeds up the process. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

Kelly Michaud, RCMP Amber Alert communications strategist who is a part of the team that creates what you see and hear when an alert is sent out, said they use automated voices as it speeds up the process. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

“Are Amber Alerts issued for all missing children? No. Amber Alerts are issued in the most serious abduction cases when an investigation meets the provincial Amber Alert criteria,” said Kelly Michaud, RCMP Amber Alert communications strategist.

“Issuing an Amber Alert is only one tool that law enforcement agencies use.”

Michaud, who is a part of the team that creates what you see and hear when an alert is sent out, said they use automated voices. as it speeds up the process.

Sask. Amber Alert activations according to the federal government:

Note: these statistics do not reflect the number of kids involved.

Those numbers do not include Amber Alerts that have been activated outside of the province. In 2015, an Alberta alert was extended to Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police also have a Missing Persons Checklist, with a list of actions someone can take if you suspect a person is missing.

In a population of 1,218,976 in 2023 in Saskatchewan, 5,702 children went missing. That adds up to just over 15 per day for that year.

Why is an Amber Alert different than a missing child release?

According to police, all the criteria must be met for an Amber Alert to be activated.

The missing person is under 18 years of age or is an individual living with a significant cognitive, physical or intellectual disability.
An investigation has confirmed either abduction by a stranger or abduction (parental or non-parental) where circumstances lead police to believe that an abducted person is in danger of bodily harm or death.
There is enough descriptive information about the abducted person, the abductor or the suspect vehicle to ensure the public can identify these elements.
The alert can be issued in a time frame that would provide a reasonable expectation that the abducted person could be returned or the abductor could be apprehended.

At the Saskatoon Police Station, a new visual for Ambert Alerts within the province was unveiled. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

At the Saskatoon Police Station this week, a new visual for Amber Alerts within the province was touched on. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

In Saskatoon, RCMP Senior Investigator with Major Crimes Ashley St. Germaine said all tips received will be investigated.

“A good point was raised (about) the alerting fatigue that can happen within the public. I just would love to reiterate the message that there are strict protocols in place for issuing an Amber Alert,” St. Germaine said.

SPS Supt. Tonya Gresty (left) and RCMP Senior Major Crimes Inspector Ashley St. Germaine (right) answer questions from the media at an AMBER Alert event. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

SPS Supt. Tonya Gresty (left) and RCMP Senior Major Crimes Inspector Ashley St. Germaine answer questions from the media at an Amber Alert event. (Céline Grimard/650 CKOM)

“When we release that information, it is verified information and is actionable by the public. So when you do get those alarms, please pay attention and please be our eyes and ears and report any information that you see to us as soon as possible.”

Call for an Indigenous alert system

Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police said between 1935 and 2023 65 per cent of missing people in Saskatchewan were Indigenous.

In April 2024, Manitoba MP Leah Gazan called for the creation of an alert system for missing Indigenous women known as the Red Dress Alerts. The system would follow the same model as the Amber Alerts.

“We’ve seen with the Amber Alerts that 80 per cent of the children that have gone out through the Amber Alert have been located,” she said. “The longer it takes to get the information out there, the more challenging and unlikely it is that we’ll be able to locate them and bring them home safely.”

In 2022, a Missing Indigenous Person Alert System was launched in Washington state in the U.S.

A specific designation of Missing Indigenous Persons was added to the alerts systems already in place, including Amber Alerts.

“This is a significant step for our state and agency,” Washington State Police’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit director Carrie Gordon said at the time. “We know that Indigenous people go missing at a significantly higher rate than the general population.”

By the end of August 2024, there had been 114 of those alerts issued, with the subject being located in all but 13 cases.

Red dresses, red ribbons, and various words to describe a woman in front of John Diefenbaker School. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Red dresses, red ribbons, and various words to describe a woman in front of John Diefenbaker School in Prince Albert. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

A 2019 report from a national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found deliberate rights violations at the heart of violence against Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.

With the final report came 231 calls to justice directed toward governments, social service providers, industry and Canadians, but relatively little progress has been made to date — particularly on the federal side.

“There’s a lot of work being happening in the background, both on the provincial and national level, on different types of alerting, including some of the concerns with the Indigenous communities,” said Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police Mitch Yuzdepski.

He attended the Jan. 16, Amber Alert info session in Saskatoon. His main message was: “We do have to be really cognizant of overuse of an alerting system.”

Michael Jackson represented himself in court proceedings. (Saskatchewan RCMP/Submitted)

Why no alert in Michael Jackson abduction?

650 CKOM asked why an Amber Alert was not issued for the Michael Gordon Jackson case when the mother asked for it. RCMP declined to answer.

The high-profile case began in November 2021 when Michael Jackson failed to return his daughter to her mother as per their custody agreement. He said it was because he wanted to protect his daughter from the COVID-19 vaccine, which her mother had planned to have her get.

Jackson was arrested three months later in Vernon B.C., on a Canada-wide warrant.

A jury found 55-year-old Jackson guilty in April 2024, of abducting his daughter in contravention of a custody order after a trial at Regina’s Court of Kings Bench.

— With files from Lara Fominoff, NorthEast Now and CKOM News

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