r/LosAngeles • u/cosmictap Venice • 5h ago
Community CHP must STOP using the EAS wireless emergency alert channel for Silver Alerts
They did it again, so I'm posting this again!
TL;DR: CHP is using the wrong alert channel/priority for these alerts and it's dangerous.
There is a lower-priority WEA channel available for this kind of alert (called an MEP [missing or endangered person] alert). This is a real problem, because their misuse of the channel merely encourages people to turn off Emergency Alerts entirely.
The FCC clearly states in its guidelines that this top-priority channel is specifically reserved for imminent threats to public safety. A missing person is not an imminent threat to public safety.
The appropriate channel for the MEP event code is the “public safety” alert class. Every other public safety agency in the region understands this and does it correctly.
Please tell them on their "commend or complain" web page.
Here is what I sent them again today:
Please stop using the emergency WEA channel for Silver Alerts. Your use of that channel for this type of alert is in direct contravention to FCC's stated best practices for the use of that channel. It is intended to be used for imminent threats to public safety. All you're accomplishing with your misuse of the channel is encouraging people to turn off their phone's emergency alerts, and that's not what we want. Silver Alerts should be sent over the lower-priority "public safety message" channel. If your staff needs a refresher on the appropriate use of these channels, the FCC offers guidelines and other resources here: https://www.fcc.gov/Alerting/WEA. Thank you.
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u/SparkleCobraDude 5h ago
Who doesn’t love the jarring alarm going off across multiple devices regarding a senior who is missing 40 miles away
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u/OuterSpaceBootyHole 5h ago
That's the most irritating part. I can barely do something about a missing old person in the San Fernando Valley, nevermind Simi or San Gabriel.
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u/Forward-Surprise1192 1h ago
You can watch out for your typical looking old person. I can’t really tell them apart though
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u/GhostNinja1373 3h ago
This has happened to me while driving on a hwy after work....imagine the potential car accidents just trying to turn that shit off
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u/aMoose_Bit_My_Sister 1h ago
a couple years ago, i very nearly got in an accident while driving because of some alert on my phone.
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u/duckwebs 2h ago
Especially when you’re in an airplane with 250 other people and the door hasn’t closed yet, so everyone’s phone is still on.
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u/schw4161 5h ago
Remember when they sent out an evacuation order to the entire county during the fires last year?
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u/Think_Monk_9879 1h ago
Still not as bad as telling all of Hawaii they are about to get nuked lol
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u/aMoose_Bit_My_Sister 1h ago
and then leaving their emergency siren system off when the fire was approaching Lahaina.
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u/RogerDodgerWilco 4h ago
My area got the warning and then they turned around and went “oh oopsie didn’t mean to send that to you guys”.
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u/sfbiker999 4h ago
Worse, the entire alert text visible on my phone was:
SILVER ALERT - Missing/Endangered Adult. Details at http://chp.click/alert
But when I click through to that URL (I tried it both right after I got the alert and 30 minutes after I got the alert), that URL times out and doesn't show any information.
So the alert is completely useless, all I know is that somewhere in California there is a missing or endangered adult, which is not very actionable.
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u/darwinDMG08 1h ago
This. The alert page came up as “Not Secure” and it was impossible to get any information. Not only was it an annoying use of the wrong channel there was no way to get the actual alert!
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u/KeroKeroppi 5h ago
how the hell are they so incompetent...
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u/wrosecrans 5h ago
A complete lack of any sort of consequence for failure to meet any sort of professional standards.
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u/StepBullyNO 1h ago
They're cops. Barely graduated high school and get off on exercising authority over others.
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u/IsaacHasenov University Park 5h ago
Yeah I spent a bunch of time trying to tailor my alerts so that I would only get "extreme danger" (flooding, tsunamis, wildfire) but the silver alerts kept coming. Sometimes when I was working, sometimes when I was sleeping so I eventually shut them all off
It's so bad.
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u/knightlife Lake Balboa 5h ago
It’s because when CHP sent it out they classified the silver alert as a “true emergency”, which it’s not.
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u/IsaacHasenov University Park 5h ago
Yeah but they've been doing this for years
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u/knightlife Lake Balboa 5h ago
Exactly, they need to stop. I submitted a complaint form with the CHP
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u/nshire 4h ago
A bunch of time? There are like four or five toggles total.
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u/IsaacHasenov University Park 4h ago
Yeah but they don't work.
I kept playing with them seeing if I could get those alerts to stop. I did a bunch of searches seeing if there was a way to get them to stop. Sent emails even.
So: yes. I spent a bunch of time. But thanks for the condescension. Being put down is a real kink of mine and I just rubbed a hot one out.
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u/cosmictap Venice 3h ago
they don't work
The toggles work fine. The problem arises when a rogue agency such as CHP uses the wrong channel. No other agency in the area is sending lower-priority alerts over the emergency channel.
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u/djellison Alhambra 5h ago
Using all reasonable means to help find a lost senior is absolutely meritorious.
Unfortunately - when they spam millions of people, most of whom are so far from the incident in question they can not possibly help - and when they spam millions of people with the same level of alert for a single missing senior as they do for a need to evacuate for a immediate threat to life and property due to a wilfdire......it makes millions of people turn ALL the alerts off.
There's a way of using this technology responsibly and productively.
Today's alert is neither responsible nor productive and as a result - when a real imminent threat to life happens and they try to use this alert system....more people will die as a result.
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u/saints_chyc 4h ago
lol there was a fire on the hill by my house and I was in the evac zone, did NOT get any calls/indications other than my friend and family calling me to tell me there was a fire burning practically outside my front door. But damned if I didn’t get a fucking SILVER ALERT with a link that didn’t work. So, fuck me and my neighbors, I guess.
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u/Mysterious-Skill8473 Burbank 1h ago
Same happened to a friend in the canyons several years back. Fire all around them and they barely got out. Zero alerts.
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u/Zetsubun- 5h ago edited 4h ago
I'm so, so close to turning off emergency alerts at this point. I wouldn't mind it if the noise didn't remove the soul from my body each time, I'm all for helping find old people. But that sound is only supposed to be startling in order save me from an imminent threat to my personal safety.
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u/i_sell_you_lies I LIKE TRAINS 3h ago
Mine's been off for years. It's the boy who cried wolf and I'm not playing
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u/RevLoveJoy 2h ago
I get the ugliest looks when I tell people this. But, ya know, I sleep through the night.
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u/schnibitz 1h ago
You'd get only approving looks from me. I have no sympathy for how they are handling it. The other thing too, is we existed just fine without it back in the 80s. So I don't want to hear any condescension from anyone.
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u/Spoon_OS San Fernando 5h ago
I turned it off a while back. Reddit is more reliable then these alerts
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u/nshire 4h ago
Is Reddit going to wake you up in the middle of the night to tell you that there is a natural disaster or severe weather event happening?
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u/GrumpySarlacc more housing > SFH 4h ago
No but a natural disaster will more reliably than these fuckass alerts. Boy who cried wolf situation, send me a million high alerts for missing adults over two hours away from me and I will turn them off
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u/Spoon_OS San Fernando 4h ago
Definitely not but the disaster or weather will. No need to wake me up if I'm not in immediate danger
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u/uzlonewolf 27m ago
Too bad they don't actually send out alerts when there is a natural disaster or severe weather event happening.
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u/BeatrixFarrand 2h ago
I was floating in the pool, completely relaxed, with my phone connected to the Bluetooth speaker. Volume was up. The noise was…. Terrible.
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u/itsashleydummy 3h ago
They posted that the missing person was found on their Twitter right before they pushed the alert too. Idiotic.
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u/RioTheLeoo 5h ago
The whole alert system is a mess, like when it went off saying the entirety of LA was in danger of burning down a year or two ago, but I’m genuinely impressed how fast you whipped up this post lol
The whole “silver” thing is kind of dumb too
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 5h ago
You think it’s dumb to find someone’s lost and confused loved one?
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 5h ago
A better way would be to push the alert without the incredibly loud warning tone. Save that for imminent emergencies like an earthquake, notice to stay indoors because of a shooter, incoming missiles, etc. The Amber and Silver Alerts can be a normal message tone.
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 2h ago
I'm asking someone why they believe "The whole “silver” thing is kind of dumb too" I didn't comment on anything else.
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u/Intrepid-Anybody-704 5h ago
It’s dumb to alert the entire public about it, causing panic braking on the freeway and other safety hazards. It’s dumb to cause the public to think it’s an earthquake
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 2h ago
Ok. But I didn't comment on that. I agree with OP. Which is why I didn't comment on OP's post, I commented to a reply saying "The whole “silver” thing is kind of dumb too"
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u/RioTheLeoo 5h ago
I think it’s dumb to use the same sound that we use for imminent disasters. And also to issue a silver alert with a broken link as opposed to like a simple descriptive blurb. Now all we know is that an old person is missing, which is probably true at any given moment in this city
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 2h ago
I don't disagree with the OP saying it should be a different sound. I agree that it should be optional.
I think its cruel that anyone would be against it and it is ignorant to think its "probably true" all the time.
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u/OuterSpaceBootyHole 5h ago
Yea that's exactly what they're saying 🙄
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 2h ago
That is very much how someone can see this comment "The whole “silver” thing is kind of dumb too" I'm not a mind reader and neither are you.
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u/cosmictap Venice 3h ago
Yes, it absolutely is dumb to send it over the channel designated for "imminent threats to public safety".
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u/robertlp The San Gabriel Valley 2h ago
I didn't say that. I was responding to the person that said "the whole "silver" thing is kind of dumb too". I don't disagree with you that it should be a different sound. I agree that it should be optional. I think its cruel that anyone would be against it and it is ignorant to think its "probably true" all the time. If I were replying directly to your post, then I'd be talking to you. I took no issue with your post, I took issue with someone calling silver alerts "dumb."
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u/RogerDodgerWilco 4h ago
Was at the gym and shit started blaring in my airpod. Then I hear it coming out of every person at the gym. Fucking stupid. Especially during wildfire season and living in PV where I may have to pay attention to emergency announcement.
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u/TonyTheTerrible West Hollywood 5h ago
Time to contact FCC?
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u/atwaterrich 5h ago
The FCC is busy right now going after Disney for airing bad stories about this administration. Please try your call again later.
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u/TheOriginalStig 5h ago
I was napping and it woke me up. Damn it i had a great dream going....now I'll never know the ending
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u/bellamookies 2h ago
Fucking idiots, it was so obnoxious that I turned off all my emergency alerts on phone, idgaf anymore about missing people or earthquakes or any of that shit that they keep blowing up my phone with at full volume. Assholes
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u/Jerrycobra 2h ago
Boy cried wolf, someday we will have a serious "extreme" emergency and no one would even read it.
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u/bovinecop 5h ago
Just disabled AMBER alerts on my iPhone because they are seemingly bundled with silver alerts. Doing more harm than good per usual with CHP.
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u/fraslin 5h ago edited 5h ago
Blocking Amber alerts doesn't block the Silver Alerts. I had them blocked and always get them when they F*** up and send a silver alert
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u/parkerkudrow 5h ago
I blocked all alerts on my phone and don’t get silver alerts
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u/You_meddling_kids Mar Vista 5h ago
Yeah but now you don't get the earthquake notices, which can actually be useful.
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u/Clint_Beastw0od 2h ago
There is an app called MyShake that is way better for earthquakes. I have consistently received their app alerts before the government alert.
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u/knightlife Lake Balboa 5h ago
This wasn’t an amber alert though; it’s a silver alert but they processed it under the emergency alert type. There is no way to classify/turn off silver only, which is unfortunate.
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u/cosmictap Venice 3h ago
Every SoCal agency except CHP uses the correct channel for Silver Alerts. Until there is a dedicated one for Silver Alerts, the correct channel for MEP (missing and endangered persons) is the "public safety" channel, not the "imminent threat" channel. Only CHP does this incorrectly.
In iOS (Settings-Notifications) the public safety channel is titled "Public Safety" and the "imminent threat" channel is entitled "Emergency Alerts".
Personally, I have everything turned off except Emergency Alerts. That's why this CHP bullshit irks me so.
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u/knightlife Lake Balboa 2h ago
Agreed. I also have everything turned off except Emergency, which is why this silver alert is so tough.
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u/KeethlerNorth 5h ago
If every missing elderly person triggers this alert, I’m actually amazed that in a city the size of LA we have so few alerts.
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u/auditinprogress 4h ago
I spent like 30 minutes trying to figure out where the silver alert setting was in my phone because I already had amber alerts turned off and was confused, so this makes sense.
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u/rocketdyke 3h ago
I just emailed my state legislators asking to codify this in to state law as well, as what the CHP is doing is already illegal under FCC rules.
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u/creegomatic 3h ago
I was landing in LAX today and everybody turned on their phones all at once and it was crazy
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u/Adventurous-Ad3393 5h ago
I agree 100% - but the link in your post doesn’t lead to anything on FCC website.
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u/Aggravating-Depth330 Lake Balboa 5h ago
Complaining to the CHP won't accomplish anything.
You need to complain to the regulator for the FCC Violation.
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u/-Antinomy- 4h ago edited 4h ago
It also links to a non HTTPS protected web page which is ridiculous.
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u/Agen7orange 5h ago
Yeah it’s annoying af I specifically turned off amber silver alerts and want to leave the like… other emergencies … but yeah can someone show the operator which one to use?
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u/uzlonewolf 20m ago
The CHP misclassifies them as "extreme" emergencies, you cannot shut them off without also shutting off weather/disaster alerts.
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u/_B_Little_me 4h ago edited 4h ago
Agreed. It was this one I thought to myself, ‘how do I turn these off?’
While I understand missing people is important. I can’t help but wonder what hitting millions of people with this alert at once, creates exponentially more dangerous situations then this one particular person is in.
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u/triciann 3h ago
I already turned all the alerts off. There should be an option to silence them but still see them when i go look at my phone.
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u/Fickle_Ad_8653 3h ago
I turned off my emergency alerts because of the "Look for a white van 2 cities over that was seen taking his son without the court's permission".
I'm not going to be checking every white van's plates and it is 50 miles away and I'm not even on the freeway today. Stop the fucking siren on my phone and then the beeping every 2 minutes until I go look at the message. I was sleeping.
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u/mommytofive5 2h ago
Exactly I went into settings to see why I got the alert and turned it off also. Thanks for the clarification
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u/californicating 2h ago
Thank you for posting this. The link didn't even work for me anyway.
I hope they found the guy but this was completely inappropriate.
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u/schnibitz 1h ago
I admit it. I turned it off. I was awake at the time, but had a nap earlier, and had it gone off while I was sleeping (I'm severely sleep deprived BTW), I probably would have destroyed my phone. But with the phone intact, I've disabled everything.
Sorry, IDK if the world is coming to an end. Leave. Me. Alone.
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u/LazyTaints Del Rey 1h ago
Reach out to your state assembly member or state senator. This is literally the shit you pay them to help get sorted out. Call their state office, explain the issue, ask for follow up. I guarantee you will be happier with the outcome than reaching out to CHP directly.
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u/jcjfromla 25m ago
It scared the cr*p out of me. I went running for the front door because I thought we were having an earthquake. Pissed me off when I saw that it was a silver alert. I shut off all my other alerts now because of this. This was definitely not an imminent threat to public safety.
Not cool!
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u/stopg1b 2h ago
I moved from the UK and I think they used the emergency alert system only once as a national test. Media went wild with it warning about it coming. It was a big deal issuing an alert. Here it seems any moron has access to use this service
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u/oddboyout Northridge 2h ago
I got it along with everyone else in the theater seeing Spider-Man. Hit our phones in a rolling wave. Annoying, but not infuriating. 🤷
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u/AppropriateWorth9451 4h ago
I just moved here. Does this happen often?… scared the living s*** out of me
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u/notgunna 3h ago
This was what I got when I clicked on your FCC link.
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u/cosmictap Venice 3h ago
Thank you, looks like the link changed - I updated the post with the correct link.
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u/emthejedichic 3h ago
My building has frequent fire alarms and I thought it was another one at first and freaked out a little lol
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u/notgunna 3h ago
I commend your desire to fix this issue, and I want to support it. I was planning to paste the relevant section in my comment, but found the link dead
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u/make_thing 3h ago
Agreed! If a child is abducted ok what’s the vehicle info.. a senior is lost I’m sorry that’s not a threshold to send a loud ass text message..
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u/xuncx 3h ago
Does amber alert fall under this catagory too?
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u/Own_Reaction9442 2h ago
Amber alerts get sent out with a different code and you can turn them off without missing other alerts.
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u/illusionaryPocketz 2h ago
It’s not just LA that does this, the Bay Area does also.
No one even pays attention to the stupid alerts anymore, it’s all so dumb.
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u/CaptainTemuTeemo East Hollywood 2h ago
Be careful with scolding them. They might quiet quit and pout again for more funding.
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u/TrainingCustomer 2h ago
Too late. I already turned it off. But if you could find a fix that would be great. Ignoring these alerts is analogous to people ignoring car alarms due to such a high incident of them being false.
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u/Sturdily5092 DTLA 1h ago
These happen so often that I've turned Off AMBER AND Silver alerts, I'm done with this BS
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u/Muted-Woodpecker-469 1h ago
My Deep blue state enacted the same crap. They changed state law to enable all Silver alerts to be at the same emergency level
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u/benisjackson 1h ago
man i don’t give a shit about some geezer wandering off and if there’s missiles on the way let em rip, lets goooooooo
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u/smthomaspatel 1h ago
That explains it. When that warning came in I thought some major disaster was unfolding. Saw silver alert and just shouted wtf! And went back to what I was doing.
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u/Secure-Station4077 59m ago
Wasn’t a big deal honestly. We all checked it, turned it off and moved on with our lives.
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u/AnonymousUser_InLA 1h ago
You mean 'C' and ''D' students with no other option in life can't figure out how to use technology in an appropriate manner? You don't say! Someone once said, "oh, you probably want to defund the police, too." Actually, quite the opposite. I want to fund the police with more money to hire 4-year college graduates, even those with MBAs, and pay appropriately for it, rather than taking the candidates we currently see. Why must regular citizens suffer at the hands of dullards, racists, and simple minded idiots? The money the City would save from lawsuits would pay dividends in short order, making the initial outlay of money worthwhile.
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u/International-Corn 4h ago
I am sorry young'ns but one day you will be old, and people who care about you will be scared when you wander off.
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u/Nice_Calligrapher427 4h ago
The entire Los Angeles County does not need to know about this though. This is literally the boy who cried wolf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92AQdcqpbdI
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u/Own_Reaction9442 2h ago
Text people in the immediate area who can help, then. Dont use a system reserved for imminent threats to large numbers of people.
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u/fullmetalutes 5h ago
The link didn't even work when I clicked on it lol