Blue Alert for Bay State?
Public would be informed of fugitives who hurt police
Massachusetts could become the 29th state to put in place a “Blue Alert” notification system that alerts the public to fugitives on the run after injuring or killing a cop — the same way Amber Alerts help capture kidnappers and Silver Alerts bring home wandering elders.
The Joint Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety will hear testimony at the State House tomorrow on House Bill 1308, proposed by Republican Reps. Todd M. Smola of Warren and Timothy R. Whelan of Brewster.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave the green light to let states plug their Blue Alerts into the Emergency Alert System to broadcast warnings on cellphones, television, radio and satellite, in addition to traditional LED highway signs. It will also enable states to share information. The FCC estimates implementation will take a year to 18 months.
Daniel Bennett, secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, declined to comment; however, a spokesman said the office is generally supportive of the measure.
“Anything that’s going to increase officer safety, I think is a good thing,” police Commissioner William B. Evans said yesterday. “As we’ve seen over the last couple of years, the job seems to be getting more dangerous. Absolutely I’d support it.”
Mark K. Leahy, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said, “We think an attack on a police officer is an attack on the community. We don’t want people to grab their pitchfork and baseball bat and go handle the situation on their own. But while we would never ask the public to physically intervene, their eyes and ears could be essential in the apprehension of a dangerous fugitive.”
Disabled Desert Storm veteran Tom Berry, a former military police officer and communications specialist for the Army, founded the nonprofit National Blue Alert System to provide states guidance and support. He urges legislators not to think of Blue Alert as something special for police, but as a “vote for public safety. If you’re willing to kill a police officer and know that you may be facing the death penalty, what do you have to lose? We don’t want civilian casualties.”
The National Blue Act of 2013 was a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2013 and sponsored by Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) It instructed the Department of Justice to create a national Blue Alert communication system under the direction of a national coordinator.