Turquoise Alerts ("Emily's Law")

A Turquoise Alert program establishes a notification system that provides immediate information to the public through issuing and coordinating alerts using various resources following the report of a missing endangered person, including tribal members, who is under the age of 65 and specific activation criteria are met.

The goal of the Turquoise Alert is to locate the missing endangered person through efficient information dissemination and communication that results in the safe and expedient recovery.

The Turquoise Alert system is cited as “Emily’s Law” to honor and memorialize the life of San Carlos Apache Tribal member, Emily Pike.

Arizona Turquoise Alert Criteria:

As prescribed by A.R.S. 41-1728.01, the investigating law enforcement agency may request a Turquoise Alert when it believes specific criteria are met as established in statute. DPS will issue a Turquoise Alert when all five of the following criteria have been met as listed below.

1. The missing person is under the age of 65.
2. The law enforcement agency investigating the missing person report has used all available local resources*.
3. The person has gone missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.
   - A law enforcement agency has determined that the person is NOT a runaway as the only reason they went missing. (There is an exception if there are articulable facts that the person is missing and endangered due to aggravating factors.)
4. Believes that the missing person is in danger, is in the company of a potentially dangerous person, or that there are other factors indicating that the missing person may be in peril.
5. There is information that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing person.

* Exhaustion of all available resources include:

• Missing person report entry in NCIC (exception: NCIC entry may be pending if the person was abducted)

• BOLO’s, APB’s, flyers with pictures of the missing person, bulletins

• Checked Areas:
  Alternate residences,
  Hospitals (including VA hospitals if applicable)
  and Jails

• Cell phone location systems (including carrier) and in-vehicle location systems

• Contacting other family members and friends they may be staying with

• Contacting Social Worker if applicable

Alert Activation Resources:

1. Emergency Alert System (EAS): The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has amended its regulations governing the EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) adding a new event code, Missing Endangered Person (MEP), to allow alert originators to issue an alert to the public about missing and endangered persons, to include members of a federally recognized Indian tribe, whose circumstances do not meet the criteria of an Amber Alert. FEMA has given DPS permission to activate a generic EAS coding that is sent to Arizona broadcasters who may interrupt normal broadcast programming.
2. Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Vehicle Messaging System (VMS) Boards, (only when a person is believed to be in a vehicle).
3. All-Points Bulletin (APB): Broadcasts to law enforcement.
4. The DPS Alerts Website.
5. Social media (Twitter/the X platform and Facebook), Text, and Email.