CodeRED: Alabama Unveils New Emergency Alert System

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) has launched a new high-speed notification system known as CodeRED, designed to notify residents of missing person alerts throughout the state. ALEA unveiled the new system on Tuesday, May 25, to highlight National Missing Children’s Day.

“Our Alabama Fusion Center (AFC) will use the new state-of-the-art system to issue alerts in the event of a missing person and it will have the capability to quickly deliver essential information to citizens throughout the state or in a targeted area, depending on the situation,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “I encourage all Alabamians to consider enrolling in the new alert system, which will allow everyone to be vigilant and stay informed once a missing person alert is issued.”

ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said, “We are continuously looking for ways to improve our overall operations and efficiently serve the citizens of this state. ALEA’s Fusion Center has worked diligently to provide citizens with a new alert system that can easily be accessed. CodeRED will allow all Alabamians to quickly subscribe to alerts via a variety of methods and it will deliver time-sensitive information during high-stress situations where time is of the essence for those missing loved ones.”

CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for inputting information. The data collected will be used only for such emergency notification purposes as when citizens are reported missing. Citizens who wish to enroll should visit www.alea.gov and click on the CodeRED logo displayed on ALEA’s homepage.

An additional easy enrollment process can be completed by texting “ALalerts” to 99411 from any mobile device. Citizens will then receive an immediate response containing the Community Notification Enrollment (CNE) link for the state.

AFC Director Jay Moseley said, “Your participation in this emergency notification system will provide a direct conduit between public safety officials and your local community. CodeRED allows us to disseminate missing person alerts via phone, text, email and social media, however, citizens have the ability to select the preferred means of communication.”

Citizens and partners should be advised that ALEA will cease sending emails on the existing system in the near future but will give everyone notice before doing so. Amber Alerts and Blue Alerts will continue to be relayed over the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system, in addition to being distributed on the CodeRED platform. Missing and Endangered Persons Alerts and Emergency Missing Child Alerts will only be distributed over the CodeRED platform.

The Fusion Center exists to improve Alabama’s preparedness against terrorist attacks and to deter criminal activity. It is an information-sharing organization designed to combine or “fuse” information between federal, state, tribal and local government, private sector entities, and the intelligence community. Its personnel are responsible for issuing all state alerts, including AMBER Alerts for missing children who have been abducted and are believed to be in danger of serious bodily injury or death. For further information on the AFC and alert criteria, please visit https://www.alea.gov/sbi/fusion-center.