What is a Silver Alert? Here's what it means and everything Arizonans should know
When your phone buzzes with a Silver Alert or you drive past a freeway sign indicating a Silver Alert has been issued, you might be wondering why exactly it was issued or what it means. With Amber and Blue Alert systems as well, it can be confusing to know which alert means what.
Knowing the meaning behind all of these alerts is very useful when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and knowing the reasoning for each one can be instrumental in saving someone's life.
Here's what to know about Silver Alerts.
What is a Silver Alert?
A Silver Alert can be activated for a missing person 65 or older or someone who has developmental disabilities when:
Police have taken a missing persons report and exhausted all other resources.
The person is in imminent danger due to health or other issues.
The person disappeared under unexplained or suspicious circumstances and they are considered to be in danger.
What happens when a Silver Alert is issued in Arizona?
When a Silver Alert has been issued, the alert is shared with law enforcement and broadcast to the public.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety can send emergency alerts to Arizona broadcasters and directly to cellphones under certain circumstances, according to the agency website.
The Arizona Department of Transportation can also use freeway message boards to share the Silver Alert if the missing person is believed to be in a vehicle. There are 108 of these message boards across metro Phoenix and 193 across Arizona, according to DPS.
What states use Silver Alerts?
There are 27 states that use the Silver Alert system, according to Senior Link. Several other states have similar senior alert systems in place.
What other types of alerts does Arizona law enforcement use?
Besides Silver Alerts, Arizona uses two other types of alerts.
Amber Alert: An Amber Alert is issued when a child under 18 has been abducted and is in danger.
Blue Alert: A Blue Alert is issued when a law enforcement official has been killed or seriously injured and a suspect is at large.
How are Amber and Blue alerts different from Silver?
While Silver Alerts are used to help locate a missing or endangered elderly or developmentally disabled person, Amber Alerts are used to locate a child who has been abducted.
They are issued when someone under the age of 18 is determined to be abducted and not a runaway. They are issued because the abduction poses a credible threat of imminent danger to the child, and there are enough details about the child, abductor and the circumstances of the abduction that someone may locate them based on the description provided by the alert.
The goal of an Amber Alert is to communicate with the public to help locate and retrieve the child before they are hurt, as well as to apprehend the abductor.
A Blue Alert is used to communicate to the public that a law enforcement officer has been involved in a violent attack. These are issued when an officer has been killed or severely injured, and the suspect is determined to pose an immediate threat to the public.
The alert would provide information about the suspect so the public could be on the lookout and a location can be shared with law enforcement to accelerate the suspect's apprehension and lower the chances of anyone else being in danger.
More: What Blue Alert emergency notifications mean
Reporter Dylan Wickmann contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Silver Alert meaning: What to know in Arizona
