Did everyone else in California get an Amber Alert one their phone?

[RichieZ]

no, i turned it off the last time they sent an amber alert to my iphone.

 

[lxskllr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System

In addition to alerting the public of local weather emergencies such as tornadoes and flash floods, the official EAS is designed to enable the President of the United States to speak to the United States within 10 minutes,[1] but the nationwide federal EAS has never been activated.[2][3]

Makes sense. I didn't know they specifically gave the president a voice in the system.

 

[zerocool84]

Nope. I turned off that option.
Amber alerts are pointless, don't work and are a huge waste of money and frankly I couldn't care less.

They do work, people are caught with help from Amber Alerts

 

[zoiks]

I got it.

 

[KIAman]

Got it around 11pmish.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nope. I turned off that option.
Amber alerts are pointless, don't work and are a huge waste of money and frankly I couldn't care less.

Does the Alert system work?

While everyone agrees there is room for improving particular components of the Alert program (including shrinking the time lapse between discovering a child is missing and issuing an Alert), the system has led to at least 23 recoveries in the past six years, and those rates are expected to rise as more states sign on. Not everyone is a fan: some critics wonder whether system provides enough safeguards against mistakes, and also worry that involving the public will lead to vigilantism. Others believe that if the system is misused, or if it issues false alarms, people will eventually learn to block it out, dismissing a warning as background noise. Proponents argue that a few mistakes are a small price to pay for the safe return of missing children.


When is an Amber Alert issued?

While each locality determines its own parameters for issuing an Amber Alert, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers these guidelines:
-law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted

-law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death

-there is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect1s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help

Where is the Alert system used?

Currently, 15 states use Amber Alerts; two of those programs were implemented within the past two months. Forty-nine variations on the Alert system are in use across the country, and the Canadian government is considering a similar program.


The system operates primarily in densely-populated metropolitan areas.

How do the police feel about the Alert system?

Local law enforcement officials believe the system works, but they say they need more money to implement it successfully. Sensing a need (and a political gold mine), U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison have introduced legislation to boost funding for training and equipment.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I turned them off. The problem is that the county I live in is so large that I was getting alerts for things that were 70-80 miles from where I actually live.
If they made the areas smaller or had some way to specify what areas to alert you for I might use it.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Update, I did get the alert.

 

[SunnyD]

ATOT Alert: I did not get the alert.

 

[Zenmervolt]

the system has led to at least 23 recoveries in the past six years,

In 2004 there were 233 Amber Alerts issued across the US. If we take that as a representative number that means there are likely between 1,200 and 1,500 alerts issued over any given 6-year span.

That's a recovery rate of between 1.5 and 1.9 percent. There is zero evidence that this rate is any higher than blind luck would have been.

Even the "successes" are almost exclusively situations where the recovery was inevitable anyway (e.g. custody disputes where the child was never in any actual danger).

In 2004 alone, 48 of the alerts were issued for children who were not abducted. So in one single year there were more than twice as many completely frivolous alerts as the total recoveries over a six-year span.

This is not even close to indicative of a well-run program. The system's actual recovery rate is orders of magnitude lower than the rate of frivolous alerts.

Most of the support for the system comes from parties with a vested interest in continuing the program because they receive significant amounts of federal grant money for training or other purposes related to perpetuating the program.

ZV

 

[Kadarin]

Got the alert, then disabled it. I'm leaving the emergency alerts on for now, but don't care about AMBER alerts.

 

[Patranus]

They do work, people are caught with help from Amber Alerts

The reality is that most child auditions are done by family members with no intention of harming the child.

Aber alerts are not effective at all for real abductions where the child is dead before anyone realizes it is gone.

I really couldn't care less about a family dispute. That is their deal not mine and I shouldn't be inconvenienced for their family issues nor should my tax dollars be wasted.

 

[V00DOO]

I got it twice. Just turned off Amber Alerts option. I didn't even know my Iphone has this option.

 

[lxskllr]

The reality is that most child auditions are done by family members with no intention of harming the child.

 

[EPCrew]

might be worth paying attention to once in a while.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...pect-may-be-on-the-run-with-victims-kids?lite

 

[Patranus]

might be worth paying attention to once in a while.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...pect-may-be-on-the-run-with-victims-kids?lite

The sad reality is that his daughter is most likely dead.

 

[alkemyst]

All cell phone carriers are carrying AMBER alerts. Soon it will be SILVER ones.

I am betting those red light cameras have another intended purpose.

 

[chowderhead]

These high pitch, sudden alarms could also be very dangerous to motorist on the road with hands free devices. These alarms all go off at the same time which could startle motorists and cause accidents. It's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. They need to be modulated to normal text message sounds otherwise everyone will just turn them off. Also, all these monthly testing and disrupting the television, radio, etc is just going to train people to tune them out like car alarms. It's a messed up system that they refuse to fix and want to expand because won't anyone think of the children!

 

[Printer Bandit]

'''


creepo:

 

[NikolaeVarius]

These high pitch, sudden alarms could also be very dangerous to motorist on the road with hands free devices. These alarms all go off at the same time which could startle motorists and cause accidents. It's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. They need to be modulated to normal text message sounds otherwise everyone will just turn them off. Also, all these monthly testing and disrupting the television, radio, etc is just going to train people to tune them out like car alarms. It's a messed up system that they refuse to fix and want to expand because won't anyone think of the children!

I don't know where you drive, but who the hell gets startled by an alarm enough to get into a crash.

Do people where you live just spin the wheel suddenly when they hear a loud noise?

 

[sportage]

The default alarm is extreme. That's why people disable the feature. SB a text msg or pop up but no screaming alarm. Defeats the purpose.

 

[Fenixgoon]

yes.

i didn't know you were still in CA D:

 

[Phoenix86]

These high pitch, sudden alarms could also be very dangerous to motorist on the road with hands free devices. These alarms all go off at the same time which could startle motorists and cause accidents. It's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. They need to be modulated to normal text message sounds otherwise everyone will just turn them off. Also, all these monthly testing and disrupting the television, radio, etc is just going to train people to tune them out like car alarms. It's a messed up system that they refuse to fix and want to expand because won't anyone think of the children!

That's the real problem. It's the annoyingly loud and high pitch of the default, unchallengeable alarm. This isn't a fire alarm system, it's a notification system. Notify w/o pissing people off and they might not disable the notifications.