Hard lessons for Regina police after first Amber Alert

When an Amber Alert is issued, the City of Regina has its own way of helping to locate the missing child.

Signs were installed in 2007 along the Ring Road to notify drivers of road conditions and Amber Alerts.

“When there is an instance like the Amber Alert, we provide support to Regina Police Services for communicating that info on those signs,” Tom O’Connell from the City of Regina said.

On Tuesday, the day after four-year-old Samantha Martyn and her mother Natasha Sentes went missing; those signs, instead, promoted safe driving.

There are questions as to whether or not the signs, which were not updated until Wednesday, served their purpose.

“We received the information (Wednesday) morning as we arrived, and were able to get the message on to the sign,” O’Connell said.

A short time later, however, the Amber Alert was cancelled because the trio was found. The Alert remained on the signs until an hour later.

Samantha and Natasha were allegedly abducted by Samantha’s father, Christopher Alan Martyn. An Amber Alert was issued on Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. It was almost 11 hours after police first received a call from a concerned friend of Natasha’s.

Police had time to investigate and issue the alert, but it also gave the three enough time to flee to Manitoba. Security footage from a gas station in the town of Manitou, near the U.S border, shows Christopher and his daughter there around 5:50 a.m. Saskatchewan time, six hours before the Amber Alert was even issued. At that time, it only applied within Saskatchewan.

Being their first Amber Alert, the Regina Police Service admits there are lessons to be learned. They are looking into response times, and relaying correct information. From the get-go, police asked the public to look for a brown vehicle, when it was actually gray.

“There are always areas of opportunity,” Lara Guzik from the Regina Police Service said. “It’s really important on big cases like this to take that time and really analyze and decide what you can do better.”

AMBER ALERT PROTOCOL:

– Missing child under 18 years old

– Police need to confirm abduction and that child is in serious danger

– Police need a description of those involved and the vehicle they may be in