Woman Petitions To Fine Those Who Call 9-1-1 To Complain About AMBER Alerts

BabyGaga

By Helena Martin

Published Jul 26, 2019

Signatories understand the importance of an AMBER Alert.

Via: Pixabay, TBIT

Dalia Monacelli started a petition on Change.org to implement a fine on those who call 911 to complain about AMBER Alerts. When the message is sent to people in the area, many are frustrated or angry that a late-night alert has disturbed their sleep. Monacelli highlights in her petition that these people complaining wouldn’t act this way if it was their child’s life on the line.

The AMBER Alert system is a way for authorities to urgently inform the public of a child abduction. The program was started in the United States, and Canada has since adopted it to help its citizens. Once a child abduction is confirmed by the police, they release an AMBER Alert message containing important information: the child’s and or the abductor’s description, the getaway car, etc. TV programs, radio stations, and social media websites are interrupted for a short while to display this information, and locals receive a loud alert on their phones.

Recently, there have been many people calling 911 to complain about receiving late-night AMBER Alerts. The Brantford police notified the OPP to issue an alert because a father broke into a house, assaulted and threatened the mother, took the child, and drove away. The 3 a.m. emergency message woke many people up, and the 911 call queue was full of people complaining about the “rude” awakening. Another alert was sent an hour later stating that the child has been found and is safe—prompting another wave of complaints to 911.

The petition started by Monacelli has over 93,000 signatures as of publishing this article. While she has received some negative feedback, many are on her side. She is tired of hearing people’s complaints about the AMBER Alerts, describing those who complain as “self-involved.” If it were the complainers’ children who were missing, they would want the world to stop and anything be done to find them.

Those who complained about the alerts simply because their sleep was disturbed, or their day was interrupted show no sympathy. Not only are they clogging up the emergency line for a non-urgent matter, but they are also disturbing the police who are working hard to find a missing child. The amount of the fine is yet to be determined, but the petition should spark an official action because those who refuse to see the consequences of their actions should pay.