The Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) jointly announced the rollout of a “Blue Alert” program mandated by Congress in 2014 at a press conference last week.
The National Blue Alert Network will work similarly to the more well-known AMBER Alert system. Instead of missing children, Blue Alerts will warn the public about violent offenders who have killed, attacked, or pose a danger to law enforcement officers and get the word out about officers who are missing.
Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio explained the basic concept as he unveiled the program:
Blue Alerts are operationally similar to AMBER Alerts. They can be broadcast on the radio, cell phones, and other wireless. Like AMBER Alerts, which send information about missing children to the public, they provide physical descriptions, vehicle information, and other identifying characteristics, information law enforcement uses to keep the public safe and that can be used to support their own safety as well.
The legislation authorizing the program was named for fallen New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu and passed in the aftermath of their ambush-murder in 2014. The perpetrator, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, who killed himself shortly after his crime, reportedly made clear on social media his intention was to kill police officers in retaliation for the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Gardner. Panuccio also referenced President Donald Trump’s executive order to prevent violence against law enforcement, written largely in response attacks like Brinsley’s.
National Blue Alert builds on the work of 27 states who already have some version of the Blue Alert concept. The new federal program will be administed by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) under guidelines developed by the FCC. The new rules are meant to provide best practices for the use of cell phone, radio, and other communications infrastructure to best get the message out and allow interoperation of these various state systems.
The Justice Department also issued a press release on the new system and we have displayed a video of their press conference below.
