Schumer Backs Changes to Wireless Emergency Alert System
Wireless emergency alerts must allow photos and other media, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told the FCC. “In light of the need to respond in real time to terror threats, we can’t afford to have an emergency wireless response system that…
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is stuck in the 90’s,” Schumer said in a statement Sunday. “In the era of Instagram, Facebook and SnapChat our Wireless Emergency Alert System needs to get as smart as our phones and be updated so it can deliver photos and other media that has information that can save lives. … To maximize safety, the FCC should quickly update our emergency alert system by increasing the number of maximum characters permitted and allowing for pictures to be attached.” He sent FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a letter Monday backing the agency’s efforts in this regard. “It is clear the WEA system provides immeasurable support to emergency management and law enforcement agencies across the nation,” Schumer, a member of Democratic leadership expected to take over as Democratic Senate leader next Congress, told Wheeler. “Significant improvements must be made in order to allow agencies, such as the [N.Y. Police Department], to fully capitalize on the system. Accordingly, I applaud your efforts to improve the system and I ask you to expedite enhancements, such as extending the character limit to the maximum, allowing the use of multimedia images, and improving locational accuracy, so that citizens can be as informed as possible during times of risk.” Commissioners vote on a wireless emergency alerts item at their Thursday meeting, which many cities and officials have commented on, given WEA was used to alert New York area residents to authorities' ultimately successful search earlier this month for a bomber (see 1609230022).