What is a Blue Alert?
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Many Texans were awakened to the sound of a Blue Alert on their phones Thursday morning.
More common alerts sent to phones are AMBER Alerts, which send out a warning that a young child is missing, and Silver Alerts, which send a warning that a senior citizen is missing.
But what about Blue Alerts?
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a Blue Alert provides information about violent offenders who have killed, seriously injured, or pose an imminent and credible threat to law enforcement.
The Blue Alert was named after Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, two New York City police officers killed in an ambush attack on December 20, 2014. In 2015, Congress passed the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act.
Texas is one of the 37 states that has a Blue Alert plan.
The alert is only issued when there is actionable information known about a suspect, DOJ says.
When you get a Blue Alert on your phone, here are some instances that could have happened:
- When a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty
- When an officer is missing in connection with official duties
- When there is an imminent and credible threat to kill or seriously injure a law enforcement officer
