Alabama unveils new emergency alert system CodeRED

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) has launched a new emergency alert system known as CodeRED. The new system would allow people to receive updates through text messages, phone calls and email.

The new system is designed to more easily notify residents of missing person alerts throughout the state. ALEA unveiled the new system on Tuesday, highlighting National Missing Children’s Day.

Instances where Alabamians would be alerted include child abduction, a missing child, if someone with a mental or physical disability is missing, or if a peace officer is missing, injured or killed.

“Our Alabama Fusion Center (AFC) will use the new state-of-the-art system to issue alerts in the event of a missing person, and it will have the capability to quickly deliver essential information to citizens throughout the state or in a targeted area, depending on the situation,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “I encourage all Alabamians to consider enrolling in the new alert system, which will allow everyone to be vigilant and stay informed once a missing person alert is issued.”

CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for inputting information. The data collected is used only for such emergency notification purposes as when Alabamians are reported missing.

“CodeRED will allow all Alabamians to quickly subscribe to alerts via a variety of methods and it will deliver time-sensitive information during high-stress situations where time is of the essence for those missing loved ones,” ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said.

Citizens who wish to enroll should visit www.alea.gov and click on the CodeRED logo displayed on ALEA’s homepage. An additional easy enrollment process can be completed by texting “ALalerts” to 99411 from any mobile device.

Amber Alerts and Blue Alerts will continue to be relayed over the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system, ALEA added, in addition to being distributed on the CodeRED platform. Missing and Endangered Persons Alerts and Emergency Missing Child Alerts will only be distributed over the CodeRED platform.

ALEA said the old system was outdated and only sent updates to email.

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