[EAS] Blue Alerts Are Back

[Suzanne Goucher]

> On May 25, 2017, at 9:54 PM, Mike McCarthy <towers at mre.com> wrote:
> 
> Then again, if 9/11 didn't warrant an EAS activation for
> Manhattan County, what will?

Ah, the good ol' 9/11 EAS argument.  What would the message have been?  Shelter in place?  Evacuate immediately?  Who knew what the hell was going to happen next, or what to do about it?  What would you have told people to do? Because when you issue an EAS alert, you need to tell people what's happening and what to DO about it.

That said, your basic premise is correct.  Apart from the obvious Amber exception, EAS should be used for MASS warning events, not for events involving individuals.  But that will not stop the Blue Alert juggernaut, which is fraught with political overtones.  The base reality is that EAS is voluntary, except for Presidential and test codes.  So it's up to each jurisdiction to decide if Blue Alert = EAS or not.