Blaz: Include pix on alerts
AFTER THE emergency alert used to help track the suspected Chelsea bomber was mocked for including his name and no picture — with some saying it would lead to “brown” profiling — Mayor de Blasio is asking the feds to change the rules.
In a letter he sent to the Federal Communication Commission, de Blasio said the alerts need to include not only photos — which currently aren’t allowed — but also hyper links and a better way to narrow down where the alerts go.
The current alerts can target by neighborhood, but de Blasio wants them to go as close as block by block.
He also wants them to be available in more than just English, the only language in which they are currently available.
It’s necessary, he said in the letter sent Thursday, because “New York City faces countless threats and hazards . . . that require us to communicate quickly and effectively with our residents, commuters and visitors.”
New Yorkers who allow the alerts on their phones — which can be enabled in your settings — received three alerts during the aftermath of the Saturday bombing that left over 30 injured.
One directed people in Chelsea to a shelter when a secondary device was found, an all clear when the device was secured, and a third to all New Yorkers on Monday alerting them to be on the lookout for Ahmad Rahami.
Rahami’s name and age were the only identifying details on the alert, along with the directions, “See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen.”
People immediately worried that it would lead to problems for anyone who looked like they could be named Rahami.
“I hope that if you are a brown male between 4-foot-11 and 6-foot-9 that you be safe out there,” tweeted one Twitter user who goes by the handle @byepoleher.
Another, @offeatorbit, tweeted, “I didn’t sign up for the NYC emergency alert system to be woken up by ‘join our paranoia about vaguely brown men.’”
De Blasio praised the alert system last week, and called complaints about the lack of a picture “Monday morning quarterbacking.”