Amber Alerts

[mariomike]

Unless for some reason I may get a phone call at night, mine is on airplane mode between 2300 and 0600 because it takes me forever to get back to sleep if I wake up. 

I just say, "Call me back in an hour, I should be asleep by then." 

 

[Jarnhamar]

Not to downplay the issue with the lack of basic humanity of some of these people, I think that the system could be better implemented than it is.

That's fair. If the system is shitty then for sure figure out how to improve it. Someone complaining that a missing child alert is interrupting their leafs game? Garbage.

The responses on Twitter shows how selfish and self-centred we've become IMO.

I understand the need for broadcasting these messages but at 3AM, I won't get up and look for a missing children. 

Do you think the intent is for you to get out of bed get dressed and go looking for these missing kids, or, if you're out somewhere and you happen to see an adult and child matching the description to call into the police?

 

[Haggis]

The responses on Twitter shows how selfish and self-centred we've become IMO.

These are the same people who won't pull out of the way of an emergency vehicle because "it's not heading to my house".

I stopped dead at a green light this afternoon too allow a fire truck to cross the intersection.  The oxygen thief behind me leaned on the horn at me, Then pulled up beside me as the light turned red, rolled down his window and started to say something. I may be retired but my RSM's "death stare" still works.

 

[Kat Stevens]

That's fair. If the system is shitty then for sure figure out how to improve it. Someone complaining that a missing child alert is interrupting their leafs game? Garbage.

The responses on Twitter shows how selfish and self-centred we've become IMO.


Do you think the intent is for you to get out of bed get dressed and go looking for these missing kids, or, if you're out somewhere and you happen to see an adult and child matching the description to call into the police?

:goodpost: When it comes to a missing child, seconds do count. Would you be happy if the cops waited till everyone had their second donut and third coffee in them if it was your kid? If one of my grandkids was missing, bet your balls I'd be climbing up the cops' ass to get them found.

 

[AbdullahD]

:goodpost: When it comes to a missing child, seconds do count. Would you be happy if the cops waited till everyone had their second donut and third coffee in them if it was your kid? If one of my grandkids was missing, bet your balls I'd be climbing up the cops' *** to get them found.

Yep, if it was my kids. Screw everyone and everything let's find them. I would try to keep perspective and show that respect for other peoples kids, but I have not had this particular issue yet so not sure how I feel.

Just some people do not care, until it is them.
Abdullah

 

[PMedMoe]

Seems kind of simple, but unless it's required for work, why not just turn off your phones at night?  :dunno:

I don't get the Amber Alerts; my phone/provider combo isn't compatible.  But I still turn my phone off overnight anyway. 

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Since we live in/have created a society where everyone has to have their personal comforts and feelings and opinions and ridiculousness acknowledged and/or heard and accommodated in whatever manner fits the bill at the time, more and more people are becoming self-absorbed a-holes. To hell with being even remotely inconvenienced or disturbed in any way if it’ll benefit another—screw everyone else—it’s all about me!

Of course it’s super easy to just shut one’s phone off at night if it’s that big of a deal. (I use the bedtime setting/alarm that comes in the clock on my iPhone. It automatically mutes everything...even Amber Alerts...as I found out when this initially occurred.)

Anyway, stuff like this just gets under my skin. I recall reading about people complaining the day of. It’s sickening.

 

[garb811]

Seems kind of simple, but unless it's required for work, why not just turn off your phones at night?  :dunno:

I don't get the Amber Alerts; my phone/provider combo isn't compatible.  But I still turn my phone off overnight anyway.

For a lot of people these days, a cellphone is their only phone. I ditched my landline long ago when it became evident the only thing it was getting used for was telemarketers disrupting my dinner because any calls I made or took was on my cell. Did the same thing with cable TV and have never looked back.

As for the AmberAlert, one of the beefs being made in Alberta was because people were upset it was province wide instead of confined to the Edmonton area and they felt that was too broad of an area. Turns out the girl and mother were located near Okotoks, 330km South. Unfortunately that is the reality we are living in; every hour someone can be easily be an extra 100+ km away from where the incident started so there really isn't any sense in confining it to a small geographical location once the determination has been made they are mobile.

 

[PMedMoe]

For a lot of people these days, a cellphone is their only phone.

I don't have a landline either.  If someone calls me in the middle of the night, they can leave a voice mail.

 

[brihard]

I understand the need for broadcasting these messages but at 3AM, I won't get up and look for a missing children.  I got awaken 3 times recently for an AMBER alert, between 1AM and 5AM  (including one alert to tell me the alert was cancelled).  Perhaps the alert could wait on individual phones until 0600?

Nobody expects you to. But a surprising number of people are still out in the wee hours of the morning. Every pair of eyes helps when a child’s life is at stake.

 

[mariomike]

I stopped dead at a green light this afternoon too allow a fire truck to cross the intersection.  The oxygen thief behind me leaned on the horn at me, Then pulled up beside me as the light turned red, rolled down his window and started to say something.

Some drivers pull over and stop. Some keep on going. Some like to tail-gate. Some just slam on their brakes...

 

[Cloud Cover]

- The oxygen thief behind me leaned on the horn at me, Then pulled up beside me as the light turned red, rolled down his window and started to say something.

I'm envisioning the scene in Sicario where grenades get tossed into open windows...

 

[kratz]

CTV.ca

It's good news the child is safe. I can't help but feel the police are looking for a positive story after the recent backlash with these alerts.

Five-year-old Ontario boy found safe; Amber Alert ends

A five-year-old Ontario boy whose disappearance prompted an Amber Alert has been found safe, police say.

The boy was reported missing Thursday morning by his father after failing to show up to school in Mississauga, Ont.

Police had been searching for the boy and his 47-year-old mother, who they say picked him up from school Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators had received information that the boy and his mother may have been travelled from Mississauga to London, Ont. Police said they were both found safe Thursday evening in Tilbury, Ont., nearly 150 kilometres southwest of London, "as a direct result of the Amber Alert."

Further details were not immediately available.

 

[mariomike]

July 11, 2019

Ontarians Are Still Making Angry 911 Calls To Complain About Amber Alerts
https://www.narcity.com/news/ca/on/toronto/ontario-amber-alert-once-again-leads-to-angry-911-calls-from-residents-police-claim

"Some of the calls have been abusive and very rude."

Police have once again been receiving complaints from residents after issuing an Ontario Amber Alert at around 3:00 AM on Thursday. The alert was for two young boys, ages two and four, and their grandfather who had last been seen in Newmarket on Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully, a Toronto Police constable located their vehicle on Lake Shore Boulevard early Thursday morning. Authorities were able to resolve the matter without incident and cancelled the alert shortly thereafter.

 

[mariomike]

Unlike other places, Amber Alerts in Canada get a huge response ...from people calling 911 to complain about them,
https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/late-night-amber-alert-triggers-widespread-complaints-to-911-province-wide

3 o’clock in the f–king morning — no — I haven’t seen her. This went off five f–king times. I am in Oshawa . What in the f–k are you thinking?

 

[Navy_Pete]

I don't understand why these people have their phones on, in a place where it disturbs them, if they don't want to ever be woken up at night.  How hard is it to unplug?  :facepalm:

 

[brihard]

Ontario needs to pass a 911 Act and start laying fines. These idiots will shut up then.

 

[dapaterson]

Pelmorex needs to fix their geo ranges for alerts and properly geo target them, ignoring provincial boundaries.  In Ottawa, I should get alerts from Montreal to Kingston, not Thunder Bay or Toronto.

From what I have been able to find, research shows the overwhelming majority of successes fund the missing child and / or perp in close proximity - I think the figure I saw was 100 miles.

Tools exist to do proper targeting of messages, but they haven't been implemented in Canada yet.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

If reasonable speculation exists to assume the parties are in close proximity to the areas being affected by the alerts, or possibly heading that way, then the alerts go out to said areas. It’s not like we’re getting alerts (at least I’m not) wrt an individual being abducted in BC 2hrs ago.

The entitled complaining and utter self-absorption is appalling. It’s not difficult to silence all notifications. I do it every night when I set my alarm. (It happens automatically with the touch of one button actually...IPhone 6s...not rocket science.) Not once have I been disturbed by an alert. I see it in the morning. ‘Read it, check out the news, continue on with my day. I’m with Brihard...fines are necessary. People clearly aren’t taking the hint not to tie up 911 with their ridiculous whining.

 

[mariomike]

People clearly aren’t taking the hint not to tie up 911 with their ridiculous whining.

Nothing new about ridiculous whining. Especially since 9-1-1 and cell phones came a long.