Bill Would Create Active Shooter Alert System

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smart-phone-safe-34-3

Congressman Fred Upton has introduced legislation intended to help law enforcement and the public be safer during active shooter situations. He tells WSJM News the Active Shooter Alert Act would create a program similar to the AMBER Alert system for law enforcement.

“By using technology, cell phones, etc. like we do with an Amber Alert, we can identify folks within a certain area and say, ‘Stay down. Protect yourself.’ This technology can now be utilized to actually protect private citizens in addition to the law enforcement that are already plugged in in terms of how serious that situation is.”

The bill would appoint an Active Shooter Alert Coordinator within in the Department of Justice. Upton says the coordinator would offer federal training, technical support, and best practices to local and state law enforcement to improve or implement active shooter alert systems. With active shooter alerts in place, he says local police would have more tools to provide accurate real-time information to the community.