TEXAS – When a Blue Alert is issued, it means a serious and possibly deadly situation has happened involving law enforcement officials.
According to a government website, when a Blue Alert is issued, it means officials are attempting to “rapidly disseminate information to law enforcement agencies, the media, and the public to aid in the apprehension of violent criminals who have killed, or seriously injured an officer in the line of duty.”
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A Blue Alert could also be put in place when a suspect poses a threat to law enforcement, or when an officer is missing in the line of duty.
The alert was created with the National Blue Alert Act of 2013 which instructs the Attorney General to establish a communications network within the Department of Justice (DOJ) for law enforcement officers that are seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, in coordination with federal, state, according to Congress.gov.
Only 37 states use the alert.