Louisiana lawmaker wants to improve state Amber Alert system

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A Louisiana lawmaker is calling for improvements to the state’s Amber Alert system following the recent abduction of two girls in which only one victim survived.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin sent a letter this week to the governor and the chief of the Louisiana State Police expressing concern that Louisiana’s Amber Alert system is not as effective as it should be.

The letter was sent on June 20, the day Callie Brunett and her four-year-old daughter Erin were buried. Their murders galvanized their hometown of Loranger, but it’s the response to the abduction of Erin and her six-year-old sister that raises questions about Louisiana’s Amber Alert system.

“Looking at the newspaper articles I’ve seen, I don’t think the Amber Alert system would have had any impact on the mother’s death. But I do have some concerns about the three hours it took the state police from notification to issuing the Amber Alert. Three hours is almost enough time in our state to get out of Louisiana, as we saw in this case,” said Rep. McMakin, R-Baton Rouge.

McMakin is calling on the governor and state police to streamline the process for Amber Alerts. In the kidnapping case of Erin Brunett and her sister, it took about three hours and seven minutes from the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office requesting an Amber Alert from state police to the alert actually being issued.

Fox 8 spoke to the sheriff shortly after the little girls were found in Jackson, Mississippi. He expressed frustration with the time it took for the Amber Alert to be issued.

“So we gave them all the information. This was around 9 a.m. this morning. We had requested this (Amber Alert) and we called multiple times and asked multiple times why it was taking so long. The only thing we were told was we were working on it,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said June 13.

According to a chronology of events that morning compiled by Louisiana State Police, the longest period of time was between 10:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., when LSP had to review an incomplete Amber Alert application form from the sheriff’s office. McMakin says the application process should be updated and the prompts should include all the required information to make it virtually impossible to submit an incomplete Amber Alert application form.

“If you look at the current form and how it works, you’ll see that it’s online. You have to fill it out, then save it and submit it. I want us to come up with a process that allows direct access. So when you fill it out, it’s a required field, step by step, so nothing is left out in the process. And that would go directly to our officers who deal with the Amber Alert system,” said Rep. McMakin.

Time is of the essence when it comes to kidnappings. For Erin Brunett, time is running out. But McMakin says there are ways to prevent similar things from happening in the future.

“Learn from the past. Learn how we can be better. And if something like this happens again, the people of Louisiana can have confidence that we will go out there and fight these crimes and catch these people as quickly as possible,” McMakin said.

Fox 8 reached out to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry for a response to McMakin’s letter. His office did not respond to that request.

LSP has issued a statement on the process for issuing Amber Alerts in Louisiana, which states in part: “After the initial report form is received, which may be hours after the event, it must be reviewed to ensure it meets the criteria and sufficient information is available to make activation of the AMBER Alert plan reasonable. Is the child believed to be in the transmission area? AMBER Alert request forms can be submitted via email, fax, or text message. If necessary, information can be taken verbally over the phone. LSP continually evaluates its processes and procedures to ensure the efficiency of our public safety mission and welcomes any additional assistance and recommendation to improve the process.”

State police also provided data showing that since Louisiana’s Amber Alert plan went into effect in 2002, 21 Amber Alerts have been triggered in the state. According to LSP data, all children involved in those alerts were found unharmed except for one, the Amber Alert involving Erin Brunett.

Two suspects were charged with the murder of Callie and Erin Brunett. These suspects were also accused of kidnapping Erin and her sister.

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