NDDES working out the kinks
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
Cellphone users across the state were left alarmed and confused after North Dakota’s first-ever Blue Alert appeared on their devices, but offered little information last week.
A pair of emergency alerts sent to North Dakota cellphones Thursday alerted residents of a threat to local law enforcement, referred to as a Blue Alert. The messages, appearing on hundreds of thousands of phone screens Thursday afternoon, put citizens on high-alert after a suspect reportedly attempted to run over a Bismarck Police Department officer.
Officers outside of the direct area were also standing by after Thursday’s Blue Alert, McLean County Sheriff JR Kerzmann said.
Kerzmann said as a law enforcement agency in close proximity to Bismarck, deputies were aware of the situation and ready to respond, if needed.
“We got the message, too, so we were talking with dispatch figuring out if he was coming this way and what we needed to do,” Kerzmann said.
Kerzmann said there were no clear indicators that the suspect in Thursday’s threat to officers was heading toward the county, but that the department has protocol for that situation.
