Cell users complain: Too many Amber Alerts
CBS/AP
LOS ANGELES The next time a child is abducted near you, your cell phone may shriek to life with an alert message.
A new national Amber Alert system officially rolled out earlier this month to millions of cell phones, and because the alerts are automatically active on most newer phones, the messages have already taken tens of thousands of people by surprise.
The newly-expanded emergency alert system is an effort by FEMA to update the way it reaches people with new technologies, but local officials and others worry that the lack of public education and some initial stumbles may undermine the program's purpose, especially when people are startled and annoyed and choose to opt out.
- Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) (FEMA)
- Amber Alerts (Department of Justice)
Lisa Rott was jolted from her sleep at 1:44 a.m. earlier this month in her Sarasota, Fla. home. A high-pitched tone sounded in spurts for about 10 seconds while her phone buzzed multiple times.
Initially Roth, 50, was worried something had happened to her elderly mother. Then she saw the message: "Emergency Alert: Amber Alert. An Amber Alert has been issued in your area. Please check local media."
"I thought it was spam," said Rott, who works for AT&T as a process engineer. And because her cell phone has a New Jersey number, she wasn't sure exactly where the alert originated. The next morning Rott searched online for both New Jersey and Florida incidents yielding one likely possibility — hours away from her home.
"What are we supposed to do?" Roth said. "They're not telling us what to do, they're not even telling us what to look for in our area."
Later that morning Rott called AT&T, her service provider, and asked them how to make the "worthless" messages stop.
Dozens of people have similarly taken to Facebook and Twitter to comment on being startled awake, scared by their phone's activity, and frustrated by the lack of information.
FEMA officials said they are aware of the confusion the Amber Alerts have caused and are working with the U.S. Department of Justice to include more information in the text messages.
"There's a very delicate balance between how much is enough and how much (alerting) is too much," said Damon Penn, who oversees the FEMA emergency alerts system. "The big concern is over-alerting, and that's what we're focused on."
The federal agency requires people sending the alerts to be trained and to ensure that the alerts meet specific criteria. But officials are still working on trying to determine whether an alert should be sent out in the middle of the night, what information to provide, and how best to use the system, Penn said. The agency has started an education campaign, he said.
"My biggest concern is that people, if they don't understand what it means ... will opt out of the program," said Bob Hoever, a director at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "And it's critical that we continue to have their participation."
The organization activates the messages seen on billboards and now cell phones once officials tell them an Amber Alert is necessary. Since the program's inception in 1996, Hoever said Amber Alerts have helped officials safely return at least 602 children.
So far, 19 Amber Alerts have been issued under this new system in 14 states including Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Arizona, according to figures kept by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
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In the early days of the baby monster Cell Phone, when they were so expensive to own, executives had their company's pay the bills. I know because I was married to a man that had one of these larger than life design high tech phones. The monster problem happened the day he got it .. We were on vacation in San Francisco and he told me to go shopping by myself down by Fisherman's Warf while he sat on a park bench with his new toy ... the Cell Phone making various calls. Four hours later, he is still at it ... sitting in the same spot talking to whomever and I shook my head in disbelief. I suppose I really didn't know what was coming ... but the addiction to using the phone was quite an irritant to me for years thereafter.
They Created a Monster #2 ...
Then all of a sudden phones were affordable to even a 7 year old. ?? My guess is that if everyone in your household had one of these plastic Cell Phones ... it was insatiably clear that your family needed some kind of pacifier to keep them busy on mindless chatter. Texting was getting out of hand ... monthly bills went sky high ... before you knew it, These snappy little devices cost more than the food on the table each month. Now it seems the other way around ... It's cheaper to have a Cell Phone than it is to eat!
They created a Monster #3 ...
Now we can add "Bullying" to the list, overexposure of half nude or all nude pictures of your ex-girlfriend- "Let's get even" ... and if that were not enough ... "Bullying by people you don't even know" show up on your phone making threats because they pressed the wrong numbers ... "I am going to get you for this" ... raises your eyebrows and even your FEAR level that someone you don't know has your phone number. Scary thought!
They Created a Monster #4 ...
Amber Alert will not only get your attention ... your blood pressure will raise out of shock and for what?? A child in your vicinity or city ... Town of 170,000 or more ... people you don't even know ... But one of their kids make it to the "Amber Alert" list and without even knowing what ... who and where ... it all came down ... chances are it does not remotely have anything to do with you and you can't do a damn thing about it. Think about it? what could you do when you get that alert? But it created FEAR in your heart, FEAR in your mind. Your body trembled to think FEAR took over your soul existence for 1 minute that "God Awful" alarm went off. And for what ?? It is now used for Fear mongering.
Get my point?
Why would an Amber alert go out at 2am? Was a child abducted from their bed? from a hotel? in a carjacking?
Oh right, this is FEMA - another useless government agency. Now I understand why it doesn't meet with public approval.
It's not right to see people at work ... texting ... fooling around with their phone as if their every living moment depends un it ringing or a message coming in via texting ... Most of the time the messages are Bull Crap! A waste of time not only by the employee but the employer who has to put up with it.
And while you said it was never explained, all you had to do was ask.