Michigan State Police Defend 5 A.M. Amber Alert: 'We've Heard A Couple Of Grumblings'
FLINT (WWJ) - Many across the state were woken up around 5 a.m. Saturday to the first-ever Amber Alert blast delivered in Michigan through the wireless network.
While some around metro Detroit were annoyed, the alert was instrumental in locating 6-year-old Hailey Betts, according to Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser.
[EXCLUSIVE: Mother Of Child Involved In Amber Alert Says Daughter's Safety Is 'All That Matters']
Kaiser told WWJ Newsradio 950 he hopes that people will understand its importance.
"We've heard a couple of grumblings about people being woke up at 5 a.m.," Kaiser said. "And to those people I would simply ask that if it was your 6-year-old girl that was missing, or had been abducted, you would want law enforcement to use all those tools necessary to bring home that little girl safely."
The alert went out to phones in a 200-mile radius of Flint, reaching hundreds of thousands of people immediately — and millions, Kaiser said, when you factor in social media.
Kaiser said they made the decision to use the alert for the first time because they felt Hailey was in serious danger and the 200-mile radius was selected based on information police had at the time.
Hailey was found around 11:20 a.m. Saturday in Port Huron and her father, Brett Betts, is in custody.
He said the phone alerts have been successful nationwide.
"I can tell you that United States-wide we've has 17 young children saved directly as a result of the wireless emergency alert that came to a cell phone," Kaiser said.
Social media has been abuzz about the issue.
Amber alert just went off for Michigan and woke me and my mom up.
— jordan williams???? (@joordanwilliams) March 28, 2015
hope everything turns out okay ❤????
Real question is how can I make that amber alert ringtone my alarm clock cause I will never sleep through that
— juliet degain (@Juliet_DeGain) March 28, 2015
John Little wrote on WWJ's Facebook page, "That's OK, I have an app for that. My phone is silent during the night except for people in my contact list. You can bet that the amber alert will never be. P.S. give the cell number of every police officer that approves of unrequested amber alerts."
Lydia Solanki posted, "Yeah the noise was loud (I was afraid it would wake my baby) at 5 am, but it's worth it since she's safe. I would much rather wake up to an amber alert than to see the news about kids getting killed and put in the freezer. I'm glad this girl is safe."
Mark Zielman agreed. "Annoying sirens at 530am aside, I'm happy she's safe."