Blue Alerts: Leveraging the Nation’s Alert and Warning Systems to Protect Our Brothers and Sisters in Blue
What to Know
- Blue Alerts are designed to quickly inform the public and law enforcement about dangerous suspects who pose an imminent threat.
- The 2015 Blue Alert Act established a nationwide framework, overseen by the COPS Office, to coordinate alert dissemination across states.
- Effective Blue Alert plans include clear activation criteria, interstate coordination, and protocols for requesting and issuing alerts.
By Mel Maier, CEO and Executive Director of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO)
Earlier this year Jared Timbrook, a police officer in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, responded to a domestic disturbance and was shot four times while chasing a suspect on foot. Thankfully, Officer Timbrook survived and has since returned to light duty while he continues to recover. Also fortunately, the suspect was apprehended thanks to a tip from a witness who saw a Blue Alert about the incident and contacted police.
Blue Alerts are used to quickly disseminate information to law enforcement agencies, the media and the public about violent criminals who have killed, seriously injured, or pose an imminent and credible threat to law enforcement. The majority of states have Blue Alert plans – state plans that set the criteria and procedures for issuing Blue Alerts – to help apprehend these offenders. That is great progress, but we must do more to help protect our dedicated law enforcement officers who run headfirst into danger to keep our families and neighborhoods safe, just as Officer Timbrook did.
History of Blue Alerts
In 2015, Congress passed the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act, named in honor of two fatally ambushed New York City Police Department officers. The law establishes a voluntary nationwide system for warning of threats against law enforcement officers and locating suspects. The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS Office, oversees implementation of the law, helping states and law enforcement agencies establish effective plans for issuing Blue Alerts and integrating these plans across the country.
Similar to AMBER Alerts, Blue Alerts may be transmitted through the Emergency Alert System to television and radio, through the Wireless Emergency Alert system to consumer cell phones, and through other means such as highway message signs. The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency play a central role in enabling delivery of Blue Alerts across these platforms. The alerts galvanize public attention and generate media coverage with information on how to identify dangerous suspects and what action to take if you encounter them.
In the case of the assault on Officer Timbrook, a Blue Alert was issued in Missouri and later extended to Kansas. A witness who saw the Blue Alert on social media recognized the suspect and contacted law enforcement, which led to his apprehension just two days later.
Blue Alert Plans
Blue Alert plans are intended to ensure timely, coordinated communication when an officer is attacked or threatened and should be part of any comprehensive approach for apprehending violent suspects. With a plan in place, government agencies are prepared and ready to take action. The COPS Office provides guidance and assistance on drafting and strengthening Blue Alert plans, including activation criteria, how to request an alert, how to write an effective alert, the geographic scope of alerts, protocols to facilitate interstate coordination, officer privacy protection and more. Authorities that issue Blue Alerts, typically a state agency, should have an easy-to-understand process for law enforcement agencies to request an alert and clear protocols to follow. Blue Alerts may be issued when there is actionable information about a suspect (such as their name, physical description or vehicle description) and when a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously injured, or missing, or there is an imminent and credible threat to a law enforcement officer.
Because suspects may flee to other states, it is important for Blue Alert plans to be developed with interstate coordination in mind. The COPS Office, through its National Blue Alert Network, provides a framework to promote consistent and interoperable Blue Alert plans nationwide and can serve as a resource for identifying alerting officials in other states.
Next Steps
If your jurisdiction does not have a Blue Alert plan, I encourage you to reach out to the COPS Office. They offer resources and technical assistance at no cost to state, territorial, tribal and local agencies that want to create Blue Alert plans. They can also review existing plans and provide feedback to enhance the plans and ensure compliance with the voluntary guidelines.
As a former police officer who rose through the ranks to the position of Captain, as well as former director of 9-1-1 operations in the Oakland County Michigan Sheriff’s Office, I know firsthand how critical it is to protect our law enforcement community. Last year alone, 342 law enforcement officers were shot in the line of duty. Tragically, 50 of these officers died. By creating a nationwide Blue Alert Network, along with the training and readiness to use these alerts, we can support the safety of our law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve.
About the Author
Mel Maier is the CEO and executive director of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals, and represents APCO on the COPS Office’s Blue Alerts advisory group. APCO has long championed the implementation of Blue Alerts, actively participating in support of their adoption before the Federal Communications Commission. Before joining APCO, Maier served for more than three decades as a law enforcement officer.