[EAS] Blue Alerts Are Back

[Adrienne Abbott]

Call it a "Blue Alert", call it a "Cop Killer Alert", call it whatever you
want, the same public which has absorbed the intricacies of Smartphones,
HDTV, and terms like "OMG", "IDK" and "ELI5" can handle "Blue Alert". 

A case in point: 
Once upon a cold winter morning, just after midnight, a veteran police
officer who is patrolling a college campus, stops at a kiosk to write a
report. A man with a white-hot hate for cops and who has been stalking the
officer for several days, sees his opportunity, sneaks up on the officer and
hacks his head off with a hatchet, newly purchased from Wal-Mart. He takes
the officer's pistol and leaves the area. A short time later a student finds
the gruesome, bloody remains of the officer and calls 9-1-1. A cop killer is
on the loose in a normally quiet college neighborhood. 

It doesn't take long for investigators to determine identify the stalker as
the cop's killer but the suspect has a head-start on his escape plans. The
news media is not hearing any of this activity because the cops are dealing
with this situation on their cell phones. The Chaplain has to be brought in
to inform the wife that she's now a widow and her 5 children are fatherless.
At almost the same time, a PIO is brought in and briefed so he/she can put
out a news release, which the media receives around 5:30 AM, just in time
for the morning news. Crews are sent to the scene but the suspect has had
four hours, a hatchet and a loaded gun to commit more mayhem as part of his
getaway.

As both EAS State Chair and a news person who was on the receiving end of
that news release, I support the use of a "Blue Alert", using the "LEW"
Event Code in a situation like this. We all realize that someone who kills
an armed police officer certainly wouldn't hesitate to kill a civilian. In
this case, the suspect used the officer's gun to rob several stores before
he was arrested in another state after a hostage standoff and shootout with
cops there. A "Blue Alert" would not only notify the media but also the
public--not everyone watches or listens to the news--that a killer was on
the loose in their community and the other communities between the crime
scene and the state where he was arrested two days later. 

The story is real, the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The
convicted cop killer sits on Death Row...

We don't need to wrap ourselves into knots over the Blue Alert proposal.
Broadcasters and other EAS participants are only the gateway between
Originators and the public. It's not up to us to decide what constitutes an
EAS activation. That's for the Originators, in this case, law enforcement. 

Whether we like the idea or not, my feeling is that "Blue Alert" will happen
in some form. As broadcasters, we can push or lobby for the terms of use in
the proposed rule. For example, we can comment on the NPRM to urge that, if
it's incorporated into EAS, the Blue Alert uses an existing EAS Event
Code--LEW--because it is exactly that, an existing Event Code which means
the Blue Alert can be implemented right away. The process of adding a new
Event Code to the Part 11 rules as well as upgrading existing EAS equipment
could take years. The political forces behind the Blue Alert effort would
probably like to see the program take effect sooner rather than later. We
can advocate that DOJ provides proper training for state and local law
enforcement in the use of EAS and the Blue Alert. And looking at the success
of the AMBER Alert plans in some states, we can push for the addition of a
"Blue Alert Review Committee" in each state to examine the circumstances any
time a Blue Alert is issued, to determine if the case met the criteria, was
issued correctly and if any changes need to be made.  

Is there a danger of "overuse"? It seems like there are a lot of cop
killings but so far, almost halfway through this year, 18 officers have been
shot to death in the line of duty. One more died in a deliberate vehicle
assault. By comparison, 179 AMBER Alerts were issued in 2016. 

Jus' sayin'...

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair