A rather disturbing and quite frankly pathetic trend reared its ugly head last week when reports of people calling 911 dispatch to complain about receiving an early morning Amber Alert text surfaced.
Fortunately in this case the subject of the Amber Alert was found safely in Toronto. What should have been a story of relief was instead marred by audio tapes and posts to social media of despicable people who felt the need to question why police would disturb their slumber to send out a province wide text asking for assistance to locate a child they felt was in imminent danger. A lot of the griping took place while the child still hadn’t been located. These people apparently learned nothing from earlier this year when an Amber Alert was issued on behalf of 11-year-old Riya Rajkumar, who was tragically found dead. The victim’s father was arrested after a civilian, acting on information received about his car through an Amber Alert, reported the location to police.
Voicing displeasure about an early morning Amber Alert isn’t new, nor is it just one or two people. Niagara Regional Police Services tweeted they received over 10 calls of people complaining about receiving last week’s text. Toronto Police received so many complaints they felt the need to tweet a reminder to the public that 911 is for emergencies only (doing so in all caps to get the message across to those who still aren’t getting it). Every second spent dealing with someone who feels their sleep is more important than a child’s safety is a waste of resources, possibly preventing a helpful tip from getting through.
Some callers reportedly asked to be ‘removed from the system’ or wondered why the Amber Alert was interrupting their television program.
Police don’t issue Amber Alerts lightly. In the case of a missing child they often have very little information at hand and need to work quickly to ensure public safety. They don’t always have the luxury of knowing whether the kidnapper is headed east, west, north or south. By spending out a blanketing text they can alert all members of the public to keep an eye out for a child matching a certain description or even the make and model of a car, possibly even a license plate. That’s an invaluable resource when trying to locate a missing child. Yes, that could mean someone in Niagara Falls gets an alert about a missing child who is actually in Cornwall. But if it increases the chances of a child returning home safe and sound, that’s a minor inconvenience with which we should all be more than alright. If nothing else, it may cause a potential kidnapper to give pause knowing within seconds the entire province could be on the look for him or her.
In light of last week’s embarrassing display of people tying up 911 phone lines to vent about being awoken by the alert, there’s been talk of levelling fines. A great idea on paper, though one that may not be easy to enforce. The fact that it’s even a topic that has to be discussed is disturbing enough. One can’t help but wonder if an Amber Alert were ever issued on behalf of a member of their family, would those same people have issue with a province wide text? Ideally, another Amber Alert never has to be issued again. Unfortunately, that’s likely an unrealistic hope. Expecting adults not to put their petty problems above a child’s safety shouldn’t be an unrealistic hope however.
-Adam Prudhomme