• mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    15 hours ago

    When you do frequent midnight alerts for missing elderly, people disable the alerts on their phone entirely.

    I’m reminded of the time cops woke up the entire state of Texas at 5AM, to say a dude named Sam Altman shot at a cop near Amarillo. They issued a Blue Alert for the entire state. For reference, many Texans were more than an 8 hour drive away from where it happened. Yeah, shit like that gets emergency notifications muted.

    • JustAnotherPodunk@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      I vented on a local Facebook group when that happened. Saying that the continued police abuse of the emergency alert system would quickly cause the alerts to mean nothing. I frequently also got amber alerts for the opposite end of the state, well over twelve hours away.

      To say that my concern was an unpopular opinion would be a massive understatement. People were downright hostile. A lot of locals could never fathom that what I was saying was true. And they used all the four letter words to tell me so. A sheriff’s deputy called me a godless cop hater and a disgusting person.

      Fortunately that particular cop is unemployed for abusing his power and some domestic abuse allegations. Oh and trying to fight his neighbor while in uniform.

      And and I’m still right. They abused the alert system so much it is useless. And children and the elderly and innocent paid that price with their lives.

      • MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip
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        13 hours ago

        Yes, 100% you’re right.

        I don’t think “godless cop hater” was the insult he thought it was.

    • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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      15 hours ago

      Last year we had heavy rain. Every time the flash flood advisory was extended, a new “wake the dead” alert went out. These alerts ignored my phone’s audio settings and were very loud.

      After around the 7th alarm between, iirc, 3 pm and 10 pm I disabled the alerts. I was too on edge by the idea of another alarm to fall asleep.

      I’m not sure I turned those alarms back on.