What is a ‘Blue Alert’ and Why Did Texans Get One Last Night?

Late last night, my cell phone scared the crap out of me as it went off signaling a "Blue Alert". As I jumped out of bed and on social media, I found out everyone was experiencing the same thing. But what exactly is a "Blue Alert"?

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Well, come to find out the Blue Alert program was created way back in 2008 by, then governor, Rick Perry and is designed to alert the community about criminals who kill or seriously hurt members of the law enforcement community.

Basically, it works in the same way as Amber or Silvert alerts. It's a means of letting us know what's going on so we can possibly gather tips and info to further aid law enforcement with that specific situation. Also, for a law enforcement agency to request an alert, they must resolve that the suspect is a serious threat to the public while also having detailed descriptions of their vehicle available.

Last night's Blue Alert was in connection with the shooting of a Clay County deputy. Luckily, the suspect in that shooting has been found and is in custody. The deputy that was shot is expected to recover. At this time, we don't know the name of the deputy.

As a strong supporter of the law enforcement community, I'm glad that Rick Perry created this program. I'm also glad that it's rare that these alerts are sent out, thus not actually knowing what it was all about.

If you'd like to learn more about the Blue Alert program, then visit DPS.Texas.GOV.