Santo Domingo.– The Minister of Interior and Police, Faride Raful, praised the approval in the National Congress and subsequent enactment by President Luis Abinader of Law 25-26, which creates the Alerta RD system, a tool designed to strengthen the State’s response capacity in cases of missing persons.
Raful highlighted that the new legislation is the result of months of technical and inter-institutional work, a process during which she led the coordination table in charge of developing the system’s activation protocol, with the goal of establishing clear, efficient, and timely mechanisms for the actions of the involved institutions.
The official explained that the work included the identification and evaluation of different risk scenarios, as well as the definition of the procedures that will govern the activation of alerts, ensuring a rapid and coordinated response for the benefit of the population.
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“One of the most important elements of this law is that the activation of an alert must be carried out jointly by the National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office within a period of no more than 24 hours after the complaint is received, which may be filed in person or by telephone,” he noted.
He also indicated that the system contemplates a coordinated evaluation between the Public Ministry, the National Police, and the 9-1-1 National Emergency and Security Attention System, institutions that will play an essential role in its implementation and operation.
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The minister highlighted that Alerta RD incorporates specialized mechanisms to address different types of disappearances and situations of vulnerability. Among them is the Amber Alert, aimed at the immediate search for children and adolescents reported missing, as well as the Pink Alert, intended for cases of women in conditions of vulnerability or risk.
Likewise, he explained that the protocol includes the Urgent Search Mechanism (MBU), an operational unit of the National Police in charge of coordinating the immediate activation of the specialized State divisions that must intervene in each case. This response scheme articulates the participation of some 30 public institutions with specific competencies in the matter.
Raful expressed gratitude for the commitment and collaboration of the technical and institutional teams that participated in the construction of the protocols and the formulation of the legislative proposal.
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Law 25-26 also creates the National Council for the Search of Missing Persons, an agency attached to the Ministry of Interior and Police and chaired by its head, responsible for strategically guiding the implementation and development of the system.
This advisory council will be composed of representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Defense, the National Police, the Ministry of Women, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 9-1-1 System, the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani), the National Council for the Elderly (Conape), the National Council on Disability (Conadis), the Emergency Operations Center (COE), and the National Health Service (SNS), among other entities linked to the protection and security of the citizenry.
The minister maintained that the implementation of Alerta RD represents a significant step forward for the protection of missing persons and their families, by establishing a faster, more coordinated, and effective response structure for emergency situations.
