when you go out of town

The alerts were part of a national Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) program, which was rolled out at the beginning of the year and has expanded as wireless carriers have refined their infrastructure to accommodate the new system and as more people upgrade to smartphones with the function built in.

Monday's alert was the first to be issued statewide. In previous instances, including cases in San Jose and Oakland, the alerts were targeted to a specific geographic region. The California Highway Patrol, which serves as the clearinghouse for the dispatches, expanded its reach because of concerns the suspect was either headed for Canada or Texas.

The system is opt-out: cellphone users -- depending on the service carrier -- can adjust which alerts they get through their phone settings. Besides the Amber Alert, there are "imminent threat" alerts, covering events like natural disasters, and "presidential" alerts concerning matters of national security or concern. Users cannot opt out of the presidential alerts.

In a new development Monday people with non-smartphone cellphones received free text messages with the Amber Alerts. Additionally,agesteel jewelry non-wireless emergency systems sent automated messages to landlines, and in some instances, TV watchers saw their pay-per-view programs interrupted with the alerts, all products of long-existing "Reverse 911" systems in each county being deployed.

As was the case in the San Jose instance back in March, reactions were mixed, with some being grateful for the alerts -- lest they ever become a victim in need of the widespread notifications -- and others trying to figure out how to the disable the emergency warnings.

"It informs so many people," said Jaime Coffee, a CHP spokeswoman based at the agency's Sacramento headquarters. "The success of the program relies on the public receiving notification. They're the eyes, the boots on the ground who can call 911 and alert law enforcement."

That appeared to be the case with a March 25 abduction in East San Jose when an 11-month-old girl was whisked away from her driveway by a stranger who took off with the car she was strapped inside when the mother briefly darted back into the house.

People throughout the Bay Area got the notification, and a few hours later, the infant was found in the missing car, which had been abandoned in South San Jose. A suspect was arrested the same week.

That was preceded by an alert broadcast in Oakland in February along with the WEA notifications, though the case turned out to be a hoax.

Under the previous Wireless Amber Alert system, users had to subscribe to receive text messages notifying them of children suspected of having been recently abducted.

The architects of the new system say it allows for more precise targeting of notifications. Instead of relying on voluntary subscribers, the system uses local cell towers to send alerts to any WEA-enabled phone in the targeted area regardless of whether a user's cellphone service is based there. That way local residents with out-of-town area codes and visitors in an affected area will be notified. It also means that when you go out of town, you won't get alerts from back home.

Law enforcement where an abduction occurs must go complete a methodical process to ensure the incident warrants such a widespread alert. Once a high-ranking supervisor is satisfied that Amber Alert criteria are met -- child victim, imminent danger and specific vehicle information like a license plate number -- police contact the CHP in Sacramento and its 24-hour Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center. Concurrently, the Department of Homeland Security was notified, and the WEA alert is then issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in conjunction with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Click on their website www.agesteeljewelry.com for more information.