TYLER, Texas — Local law enforcement will be able to send out regional alerts to phones without having to wait for confirmation of a missing child with the "Athena Alert."
"It gives us an avenue to quickly get that information out to the public without having to have all those other elements satisfied," said Smith County Sergeant Larry Christian.
Christian said those elements include verifying if it was a kidnapping or abduction and if that child is in danger.
Texas Senator Tan Parker is one of the sponsors of the Athena Alert Bill. He said the bill was prompted after the death of a 7-year-old girl, Athena Strand who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by a delivery driver in Wise County.
The Athena Alert will help the public and law enforcement to act quickly when a person goes missing.
"It'll stand in the gap so that when local law enforcement believes something is legitimate, they just know, within an hour or two of a child being abducted. They can immediately jump on it," Parker said.
The alert will be sent out to a 100 mile radius of where the actual offense took place.
"If we can get that Athena Alert out within the first hour of the actual report. It's huge. I mean, that's something that could potentially save a lot of lives and children," Christian said.
Parker wants to emphasize that it won’t take away from the Amber Alert, it is simply an additional tool for local law enforcement to utilize.
"It's just a complimentary piece of legislation that we think is in the best interest of child welfare and child safety here in the state," Parker said.
Christian said their first priority is keeping the public safe and with this new tool it will help them better protect the East Texas community.
The Athena Alert will be implemented in September.
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