The CHP recognizes the impact emergency alerts can have on the community, both positive and negative. While alerts are very effective, there is a need to control their use to not become so common that they lose their power. The CHP pioneered the process to activate alerts based on the investigation instead of a blanket statewide alert, which was the national standard. This allows the CHP to activate multiple alerts simultaneously across the state only involving those who live in an area directly related to the incident.
The CHP is a recognized national leader with Missing Person Alerts. In 2019, the CHP was the first agency to successfully utilize hyperlinks in Wireless Emergency Alerts for missing persons. This revolutionized the process and for the first time since alerting began, our communities were finally provided a path to receive actionable information regarding the emergency message they had just received. The response from our communities has literally saved lives. We have many documented cases of members of our community receiving the alert, acting on the information, and safely recovering the victim. Statistics are important, but the real story is with each name, face, and family we assist. To read success stories Click Here.