LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — A new feature has been added to Colorado’s AMBER Alert formatting, aimed at helping authorities respond to future kidnappings with the help of a better equipped community.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will be testing the updated Wireless Emergency Alert system at 11 a.m. today, sending out messages that include a new feature designed to give the public more access to details related to an ongoing crisis.
This new system will be used for AMBER Alert and Blue alert situations, utilizing URL links within the text messages to help redirect the recipient to the bulletin that more fully outlines the details of the emergency.
“One of the challenges of the WEA system is that it only provides for a maximum of 360 characters in the cell phone message,” said CBI Director John Camper.
This change will only affect the public, as the current existing framework for the media to receive emergency information is efficient as it is now.
All ongoing CBI alerts can be viewed on their Twitter page, which you can access without an account of your own.