Purple Alert Program Starting In Florida On July 1
Another color is being added to the Sunshine State’s alert system. The Purple Alert program starts in Florida on July 1st.
Florida has AMBER alerts for missing or kidnapped children, Silver alerts for endangered seniors, and Blue alerts, when officers are injured in the line of duty and the suspect escapes. You see them on the highway information signs and get text alerts. The Florida Purple alert goes active in a few weeks. So what exactly is a Purple alert?
A Purple alert is issued when an adult goes missing who is at least 18-years-old and has:
- A mental or cognitive disability that is not Alzheimer’s or Dementia
- An intellectual or developmental disability
- A brain injury
- Another physical, mental, or emotional disability not related to substance abuse
These alerts can also be issued when adults meet multiple of the above criteria, when their disappearance indicates a credible threat of immediate danger or serious bodily harm to himself or herself. This is determined by local law enforcement.
The Purple alerts are issued for those who cannot be returned to safety without law enforcement intervention, and who do not meet the criteria for activation of a local Silver alert. Local law enforcement must notify the media and alert subscribers in their jurisdiction, or the jurisdiction where the missing individual is believe to have gone or may be located.
So when you see a Purple alert flash on a highway info sign, now you know what it means.
[SOURCE News Channel 8]
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