FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed that “Blue Alerts” — for threats against law enforcement — be added to the Emergency Alert System. They may be added to Wireless Emergency Alerts too, the agency confirmed to Inside Towers.
Blue Alerts can be used to warn the public when there is actionable information related to a law enforcement officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, or when there is an imminent credible threat to an officer. Pai is proposing to give states and local emergency authorities the option to use a dedicated alert code to send those warnings over broadcast, cable, satellite and wireline video networks.
Twenty-seven states have the alerts now and they can be transmitted to cell phones, and other wireless devices as well as broadcasters. What the FCC proposes to do is formally add the Blue Alert codes to EAS, and the agency is thinking about adding them to WEA as well. The DOJ, FEMA, The Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the FCC are coordinating efforts so the alerts have consistency in how they’re triggered and how they work nationwide.
Speaking at the Department of Justice last Friday in honor of Police Week, Pai cited how AMBER Alerts have helped in the recovery of missing children. “By expanding the Emergency Alert System to better support Blue Alerts, we could build on that success – and help protect those in law enforcement who risk their lives each day to protect us.”
Pai plans to ask his colleagues to vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the new alerts at the FCC’s next open meeting on June 22. If adopted, the NPRM would pose questions and invite public comment on the proposal. One of those questions would be: whether Blue Alerts can be delivered “through the complementary, but separate, Wireless Emergency Alert system, which delivers critical warnings and information to your mobile phone,” Pai said.
May 22, 2017
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