Threat Alert System Launched

michiganstatepolicegood-18
michiganstatepolicegood-18

Michigan’s new Amber Alert-like system to quickly warn people of mass shootings, terrorist attacks and other nearby threats is operational. Michigan State Police spokeswoman Lori Dougavito explains that it can be used to interrupt radio and TV broadcasts through the Emergency Alert System. It also sends out text messages. “It appears on mobile devices, similar to a 90-character text message,” she tells WSJM News.

Dougavito says there are criteria to activate the system. “It has to be a specific and identifiable threat that’s not a natural disaster,” she says. “It has to be immediate and ongoing; it has to impact the safety and welfare of the general public, and the suspects have to be out there, still.”

Legislation to create the system was signed in June by Governor Rick Snyder and was spurred by the random February massacre in the Kalamazoo area, during which six people were killed and two were badly hurt. The measures also create criminal penalties for making a false report of a public threat and require offenders to reimburse governments for the cost of responding to false reports.