Here’s Why Arizona’s New Turquoise Alert is Under Scrutiny

According to NBC News, Emily's Law was named after Emily Pike. Emily was a 14-year-old girl who was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona. She disappeared from a group home and was later found murdered.

Emily's disappearance didn't meet the strict criteria for an Amber or Silver Alert. Emily's case shed light on a blind spot in the Amber and Silver Alert Systems: many people from marginalized communities were not eligible for timely public alerts because they didn't fit the existing categories. The Turquoise Alert system, also known as "Emily's Law," aimed to close the gaps in the system.

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What is the Turquoise Alert System?

The Turquoise Alert system enables authorities to issue alerts for individuals under 65 who are missing under unexplained, suspicious, or dangerous circumstances, particularly when local law enforcement has exhausted all available resources.

The system was initially proposed to address the disproportionate number of missing Indigenous people, but it now applies statewide to all qualifying cases.

All five of the following criteria must be met before the Department of Public Safety (DPS) issues a Turquoise Alert:

• A missing person report has been entered into law enforcement databases.
• The person is under 65 years of age.
• Local resources to locate the individual have been exhausted.
• The circumstances of the disappearance are unexplained or suspicious.
• There is enough descriptive information to aid in recovery efforts.

READ MORE: Surprisingly, Arizona Has More of THIS than Anywhere Else

How many times has it been used?

Since the system was launched, nearly 300 missing persons have been reported, according to the AZ Mirror. However, the Turquoise Alert system has only been activated twice. The first alert was issued in July, and it helped locate a missing 6-year-old girl. Another alert was issued in November for a missing 16-year-old Pacific Islander teen from Mesa.

According to a congressional report from 2023, indigenous children go missing “at a disproportionate rate to their representation in the overall U.S. population of children."

So why has the system only been activated twice?

Why is the system under scrutiny?

According to the Arizona DPS, most runaways leave of their own volition, and activating the system every time would desensitize the public and reduce the program's effectiveness. In many of the runaway cases, the subject leaves of their own volition and is not considered to be either dangerous or suspicious. According to DPS, these cases don't qualify for Turquoise Alert activation.

READ: Navajo Nation vs. Arizona: Who Has Legal Authority?

Critics, however, argue that the alert’s criteria are too strict and that they're not being applied consistently. In a sad twist of irony, even Emily Pike's case wouldn’t have qualified under the original rules due to her age and the fact that she was labeled a runaway. The question now: is the system helping, or just another layer of red tape?