Here's why some people received lots of Amber Alert notifications this week
When an Amber Alert went out this week, many British Columbians were confused about receiving multiple notifications concerning the alert. Now, we have a better understanding now of why some people got up to four notices, and others did not.
Surrey RCMP issued an Amber Alert just after 3 pm on Wednesday, July 19, that continues to be in effect. PoliceĀ told Daily Hive that they are aware that some cell phone users received random or multiple alerts after the one
“We have made the Amber Alert program coordinators aware of this and they are reviewing this with the national alert program,” said RCMP.
“Initial indications are these technical issues may be due to network coverage, service providers, or cellphone operating systems.”
In BC, some who received multiple alerts were at best confused and at worst highly triggered, especially those with mental health conditions and young children.
Mounties said that they recognize that the multiple alerts were not ideal and that “it’s important for people to focus on the reason for the Amber Alert, and that is to bring [the children] home safe.”
Here’s everything you need to know about how Amber Alerts work in BC.
Amber Alerts in BC
In Canada, Amber Alerts are used to further police investigations and only law enforcement can issue them. Here are the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert in BC:
- The victim is under the age of 18.
- Police have reasonable grounds to believe that the victim has been abducted.
- Police have reasonable grounds to believe the victim is in imminent danger.
- Police have obtained enough descriptive information about the victim, abductor, and/or the vehicle involved.
- Police believe that the alert can be issued in a time frame that will provide a reasonable expectation that the child can be returned or the abductor apprehended.
Alert Ready
In BC, RCMP uses Alert Ready to blast out Amber Alerts. According to Alert Ready, devices set to silent will display emergency alerts, but you might not hear the emergency alert sound.
“The emergency alert sound will usually play at whatever the current volume setting is on the wireless device, so if your wireless device is set to silent, no sound will accompany the emergency alert message. However, this behaviour can differ depending on your wireless device, and in some instances, the alert sound may override your user settings,” says Alert Ready.
- You might also like:
- "Thanks I hated that": BC residents startled by emergency alert test
- Here's why you get Amber Alerts for some incidents, but not for others
- Everything British Columbians need to know about Alert Ready
- Multiple notifications about an Amber Alert in BC elicit complaints
With files from Daily Hive Staff
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