Amber Alert

Was anyone woken up this morning by the Amber Alert? All I keep reading on FB is how it woke people up and they continued to complain about it. Or I read posts about how this is a child and if it were their child, they would want the alert going off. I do know on cell phones you have the option of turning on/off certain alerts, including an Amber Alert. I have experienced an Amber Alert going off on my phone before. Yes it scares the crap out of me and is the most godawful sound and I am sure it scared a lot of people going off at 2am, but again, this is a child who was last seen in NJ and the State Police only issue the phone alert if someone's life is possibly in danger due to a threat, etc.

sunshinenj sunshinenj
Feb '15

I was woken up, and it definitely freaked me out. But it's a small inconvenience to help get the word out about a missing child.

PenningsLandscaping PenningsLandscaping
Feb '15

What he said.

Heidi Heidi
Feb '15

I was woken up, it freaked me out, it was a good reason, but it was 2 am...I couldn't tell you any information about the child. I heard the noise saw what it was, and went back to sleep. I think it's a good cause, but pointless at 2am.

KitKat79 KitKat79
Feb '15

Driving to work today, instead of providing updates about the accident on Rt. 80 around exit 47, the electric signs had a message of 'Assist Delaware Police With Amber Alert. Call 511'.

I've never seen an amber alert sign like that (normally it lists the car and description). Are people supposed to call the number while driving to get a pre-recorded message of what is going on? Thought it was very odd.

D-ManPV D-ManPV
Feb '15

Same as what everyone said, but I'd rather received them to get the word out about missing child.

Wbeleno Wbeleno
Feb '15

Has it ever not been one of the parents?

Reggie Voter Reggie Voter
Feb '15

This is why I have the "Do Not Disturb" function on my phone set from 11pm to 7am. The only way it goes off between those hours is if the same phone number calls twice in a three minute period.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

Yes, I was woken as well. Like most people, all I could do is roll over and go back to sleep because I wasn't on the road at that hour.

For what it's worth, in this case the father (assumed based on their last name) took the child with him after a domestic disturbance. Without further information I'm hard pressed to believe that this warranted a million-person manhunt. As with most past cases I've heard about, the odds are likely that this is just another routine law enforcement action.

justintime justintime
Feb '15

Never heard about it until the news at 7am. Guess I don't have that function on my dumb phone.

botheredbyuu2 botheredbyuu2
Feb '15

Nearly had a heart attack because we have 3 phones in our room. Triple volume! But I hope everything works out ok and they find the little girl safely.

hktownie hktownie
Feb '15

My do not disturb was on my phone but it still went off! Scared the crap out of me!

Smilingbecs Smilingbecs
Feb '15

The only sound I heard was my usual text message sound along with the message. What were others hearing that would "scare the crap" out of them? (Or freak them out, etc.)


Brilliant,

"This is why I have the "Do Not Disturb" function on my phone set from 11pm to 7am. The only way it goes off between those hours is if the same phone number calls twice in a three minute period."
Would you change your mind if it were your child?

Daizy Daizy
Feb '15

SueR~ it was not the normal text msg sound. It was more of an alarm and we jumped out of bed bc we couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

The child went missing at 7pm, not sure why they waited till 2:30am to send out the alert. I hope they find her soon.

Baci's mom Baci's mom
Feb '15

you can disable alerts with your smartphone. the alerts are now on most smartphones. you can disable them on the iphone under settings/notifications.

yourATTguy
Feb '15

Change my mind about what? About it being completely ridiculous to receive an Amber Alert at a time when you aren't going to be anywhere near a car for hours? No... it doesn't really matter whose child it is; I'm not in a position to be of immediate assistance and it's unlikely that the car in question is going to drive through my bedroom wall. So, I turn them off at night.

And if it were MY child, I'm pretty sure I would be aware of the situation long before any alerts went out. What an odd question...

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

There are many people who work night shifts and may see something to report to the police regarding a missing child...not everyone is asleep in bed at 2 a.m. They cannot customize the Amber alert around everyone's schedule. I too was woken up but it's a minor inconvenience compared to what the family of any missing child is going through.

pumpkin43 pumpkin43
Feb '15

The child wasn't missing; it was taken by its father.

Reggie Voter Reggie Voter
Feb '15

According the the NJSP website the child was found unharmed in Massachusetts and the father is in custody.


LOL...When my son was in middle school, they called me at 230pm (after classes were over) to tell me he didn't show up that day. Really??? Suppose to call in the morning after taking attendance. Thank god nothing happened to him and he WAS in school all day. So, not all authorities get it right. Went missing at 7pm, then if the mother reported it at that time,that's when the alert should have been activated, not 2am.

botheredbyuu2 botheredbyuu2
Feb '15

"They cannot customize the Amber alert around everyone's schedule."

I have no problem with them SENDING the Amber Alert at 2:30am. Like you said, there are plenty of people on the roads at that time who might be able to help. But, it is kind of stupid for ME to RECEIVE them at that time, which is why I turned them off overnight.

I think it was a flash flood warning two years ago that encouraged me to do that... nothing like the Emergency Broadcast System alert rocking at full blast at 4am, LOL.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

It was my off night from work (3rd shift) but I was awake having a couple beers. Upgraded to a new smartphone from an old flip phone last week. That Emergency Alert alarm on the new phone scared the heck out of me! 8-)


I don't keep my cellphone in my bedroom so no disturbance here. I need to escape the stupid phone for a few hours a day so it stays in my purse once I get home from work.

JrzyGirl88 JrzyGirl88
Feb '15

Hmm, that's odd. I do have a smart phone. I could swear it was my regular sound I heard. I'm sure I would have noticed something as startling as people have stated. Wonder why it was different.


Amber Alert Cancelled - All Found Safe in Massachussetts

http://6abc.com/news/amber-alert-cancelled---michael-and-elinor-trotta-located-in-mass/531808/

LeRoy Grimace LeRoy Grimace
Feb '15

I also have my phone on Do Not Disturb. It is set from 10pm to 7am. However the alert came through to me and scared the sh*t out of me. I want to see the alerts, but not at 2am.
So this is what I did and I think it is a good middle ground - iPhone users can disable the Amber Alerts in Settings / Notifications / (at the very bottom) AMBER Alerts.
I have signed up to receive messages from the NJ State Police (they give out Amber alerts, road closures, emergency alerts, etc.).
To do this, you can text your zip code to 888777 and all the alerts come in the form of text messages.
So now I will set my DND, disable the Amber alerts, and when I wake up in the morning, I will see the silenced text from the NJ state police.
Now I will get my info and sleep too.

Natalie Natalie
Feb '15

For any Android users, you can disable amber, severe, and extreme alerts. Go to your messages, then go to options, then to emergency alerts and uncheck everything. Works perfect.

LJRubi LJRubi
Feb '15

ianimal,
Pardon me I only asked a question. But I see in your past posts you cant help yourself, you have to give a smart a$$ answer. Must be great to be perfect.
Carry on.

Daizy Daizy
Feb '15

You only asked a question? Was the interjection "Brilliant" at the beginning NOT supposed to be taken as a criticism?

And the question itself "what if it were my child" is also indirectly a criticism implying that my turning off Amber Alerts at night somehow makes me a bad person because in your eyes it means I don't care about other people's children, so... I answered the question as best I could and I mentioned that I thought it was an odd question. And YOU are the one who is now offended? As you say, carry on...

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

How childish, you need to have the last word. Are you that insecure?
Good bye

Daizy Daizy
Feb '15

Irony, thy sting is sweet.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

Just couldn't resist eh, probably just a case of an over abundance of female hormones.

Daizy Daizy
Feb '15

Daizy, LOL Really?!

After glancing over the facebook pages of both parents, I don't believe the girl was ever in imminent danger.

hhs75
Feb '15

hhs75,LOL, Really?
The two teenage girls that were shot by their retired policeman's father probably thought they were not in imminent danger.either.

Daizy Daizy
Feb '15

i cant stand that alert function on the cell phone so have it turned off. i dont need a heart attack to find out. if it's a big enough event i'll hear about it from other sources.

Old School
Feb '15

What I want to know is that those who were not annoyed by this alert, what action did you take that contributed to finding the girl? I'm all for things like Amber Alerts, if they are effective and directly contribute to recovering children. However, if it is nothing more than posturing and doing something for the sake of saying something was done then why continue to issue such alerts?

somechik somechik
Feb '15

Excellent question somechick. I'm anxious to hear the answers. I have a dumb phone, and I don't get these types of alerts.

Calico696 Calico696
Feb '15

It also came across the television at 2AM. And it was exceptionally loud and startling. And it was Immediately repeated at the same volume. I too ask why startling people in the middle of the night is a good strategy to solve a problem.

justjc3 justjc3
Feb '15

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