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There are now more than 40 named alerts for missing and endangered persons across the United States. These messages are specific to individual states, and are commonly accompanied by state legislation to identify a vulnerable population that was not previously highlighted in missing persons messages. For instance, Arizona recently initiated the "Turquoise Alert" described this way : A Turquoise Alert program establishes a notification system that provides immediate informat

This post is a bit different from the rest; Here I share my personal reflections on the invitation to speak to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communication and Technology on December 16, 2025. Jeannette Sutton, PhD, preparing to respond to a comment from a house committee member. THE LEAD UP Early in the week, I received an email from a staffer for the Subcommittee, asking if I would share my thoughts on some of the bills they would be discussin

Much of the time that I have written about language inconsistency and the use of jargon in messages, it has been focused on WILDFIRE.  Many previous posts to the Warning Gallery have pointed to the use of operational and technical language (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 or Ready status, Set status, Go status) that has more meaning to responders and commanders than to the public.  In fact, we’ve published about the use of inconsistent language in the National Fire Protection A

Recently, my colleague Dr. Michele Wood and I published a paper that defines and identifies dimensions of over-alerting. While some of...

When a warning has ended, do you send a message or do you let silence speak for you? Do you let the public figure out that the coast is...

When we take a look at the most prevalent WEA messages, the #1 type, following those issued by the National Weather Service for...

Just after 6:00 PM on Sunday, June 8, the Los Angeles Police Department used the IPAWS system to issue a Wireless Emergency Alert to a...

There are presently more than 45 alert types for missing and endangered persons. They are frequently given names such as AMBER, Silver,...

There are a few reasons that really stand out about why an alert originator of public safety communicator could choose to send a...

Whew, those Santa Ana winds that fall on Southern California can be brutal. When accompanied by fire weather and red flag conditions,...

Messages for missing persons have the potential to motivate receivers to pay attention, look around, conduct a search, report known...

Its time to talk a bit about jargon again... but this time in relation to CURFEW. Curfew is defined as: a regulation requiring people to...

By most assessments, this would be considered a complete message. It includes the source, the hazard, the location, the guidance, and the...

If you send or receive wildfire or hurricane alerts and warnings, you know that there has been a shift to the use of zones to highlight...

If you read the blog posted on July 8, you know that wildfire messaging is inconsistent and frequently incomplete. You can read research...

There are many ways to indicate to a community that there is a need to help find a missing person. Risk communicators can choose to use...

Law enforcement messages with instructions to lockdown are HARD to write. Especially when you have limited time and need people to take...

Some hazards, like hurricanes, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers, offer risk communicators the gift of time to prepare their constituents...

Plain language makes it easier for the public to read, understand, and use government communications. Its wording, structure, and design...

It may come as little surprise that WEA is frequently used by law enforcement to issue alerts for missing and endangered persons (MEP). ...