# I received an amber alert notice **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635 "2015-12-16T21:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/41 "2015-12-18T21:03:33Z")
This is one of those “Won’t somebody think of the children!!!” things. If you are overly worried about such things, fine YOU can get all the Amber alerts you can handle. But not everyone is you. E.g., we get these on our DVR via our cable system. Everything is blocked while it’s running. (And sometimes the sound of the program stays off once the alert is over.) These alerts are useless: 1. The info is pathetic. They generally have the race, age, gender of the kid. They might have the race, gender of the suspect (but rarely). They might have a color of a vehicle. 2. We are in our living room. There are no kidnapped kids here. If we go out and see a 4 year old black girl in a white vehicle, we do what??? At least with phones you can turn them off. With the cable/DVR ones you can’t. Crappy alerts means that non-crappy alerts are ignored. (For some reason a wolf and crying comes to mind.) If you think this makes other people “bad” in some way, guess what? Not everyone is exactly like you. Different does not equal bad. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/42 "2015-12-18T21:21:23Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > This is one of those “Won’t somebody think of the children!!!” things. > > If you are overly worried about such things, fine YOU can get all the Amber alerts you can handle. But not everyone is you. > > E.g., we get these on our DVR via our cable system. Everything is blocked while it’s running. (And sometimes the sound of the program stays off once the alert is over.) > > These alerts are useless: > > 1. The info is pathetic. They generally have the race, age, gender of the kid. They might have the race, gender of the suspect (but rarely). They might have a color of a vehicle. > > 2. We are in our living room. There are no kidnapped kids here. > > If we go out and see a 4 year old black girl in a white vehicle, we do what??? > > At least with phones you can turn them off. With the cable/DVR ones you can’t. > > Crappy alerts means that non-crappy alerts are ignored. (For some reason a wolf and crying comes to mind.) > > If you think this makes other people “bad” in some way, guess what? Not everyone is exactly like you. Different does not equal bad. +1 :thumbs: :like: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/43 "2015-12-18T21:22:25Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’ve got the solution to that. We’ll create a new app, called Santa, which know when you are sleeping and knows when you’re awake. (Bad or good upgrade coming soon.) It will suppress Amber Alert messages when you’re sleeping. > Happy now? I found a solution. I turned them off. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/44 "2015-12-18T21:30:09Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 1. The info is pathetic. They generally have the race, age, gender of the kid. They might have the race, gender of the suspect (but rarely). They might have a color of a vehicle. They often include the license plate of the vehicle, which is the critical piece of info. But I agree that if you want to shut it off, by all means do so. I have to admit that I have shut it off on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/45 "2015-12-19T02:08:42Z")
I’ve never gotten around to turning my Amber Alerts off, but I don’t really read them when they come through. To be honest, I don’t know what most car makes/models look like, and I don’t drive, so I don’t think law enforcement’s missing too much. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/46 "2015-12-19T02:29:44Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > So you never leave your house? I guess in that case you may not ever be able to help. Though even then, the vehicle could be parked on your street but you’d at least have to look out the window. Definitely too much work. ). > [@cochrane](#): > > Do you have a problem with me, or are you engaging in RO? I support your right to keep Amber alerts turned on on your phone. If you have a problem with me turning them off, lick my ass. > > Yes, I know this comment is inappropriate in MPSIMS and I accept any warning I might receive without complaint. Take it to the Pit and out of this thread beyond this point. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/47 "2015-12-19T02:43:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > These alerts are useless: > > 1. The info is pathetic. They generally have the race, age, gender of the kid. They might have the race, gender of the suspect (but rarely). They might have a color of a vehicle. Usually it’s a specific vehicle they are looking for, and they have the info along with the license plate number. Not even remotely useless. > [@ftg](#): > > 1. We are in our living room. There are no kidnapped kids here. I didn’t know they sent them to DVRs, but it doesn’t mean you might not end up going outside or looking outside at some point afterwards and see the vehicle (not _because_ of the alert, but just because sometimes in the course of living some people do occasionally go outside). Yeah, yeah, the chances that you specifically (or any individual in particular) is going to see one of the vehicles the alert is for is low. But _someone_ almost certainly is going to see it, hence the shotgun approach to getting the word out about what they are looking for. How can you not comprehend the idea behind this method? > [@ftg](#): > > If we go out and see a 4 year old black girl in a white vehicle, we do what??? Call the police. Obviously. How is that even a question? They’re not expecting or asking for vigilantism in the slightest. They’re just trying to find a guy, and putting an emergency alert to the public gives them a much higher chance of actually succeeding in that goal. They only have a finite number of officers who can actively look for him. The ability to add in a large portion of the public who aren’t assholes via a little text message gives them a lot more eyes that may (and often do) spot the kidnapper, and possibly even save a child from being murdered. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635/48 "2015-12-19T02:49:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I found a solution. I turned them off. My alerts don’t make a sound because I hate the noise of the goddamn phone pinging, chirping, and vibrating every time someone sends me something on FB, Twitter, email, or text, or leaves a voice mail. I also set my phone to totally silent while at work and from 10 pm to 9 am. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-received-an-amber-alert-notice/740635.md?page=2)