New Mexico residents will soon receive emergency alerts directly on their cell phones when Silver Alerts and Turquoise Alerts are issued for missing vulnerable adults, according to a New Mexico State Police press release.
The alerts will be sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts system to ensure rapid, widespread notification to the public when a missing elderly individual or Native American meets the established alert criteria, the press release stated.
This expansion comes as New Mexico’s population demographics show significant groups who will benefit from the enhanced system. Native Americans comprise 9.52% of New Mexico’s population, while the state’s aging population is expected to increase dramatically over the next 20 years, with the number of residents aged 65 and older projected to rise by over 200,000 — a 28% increase.
The impact is already visible in missing persons cases. Native Americans comprised 48.5% of missing persons in Farmington, with 66% of those cases being Native American women, according to data from the National Congress of American Indians. In Albuquerque, Native Americans made up 10.5% of missing persons, with Native American women representing 43% of the total missing Native Americans. Currently, 183 missing Indigenous persons are on the FBI’s latest list for New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.
The New Mexico State Police issued a Turquoise Alert Monday for 38-year-old Eric Cleveland of Gallup, who has been missing since July 9. This was the first use of a bill passed by the state legislature earlier this year.
New Mexico is now the sixth state using a Turquoise Alert system for help locating Native Americans who have gone missing. Arizona, Colorado, California, North Dakota and Washington also make use of Turquoise Alerts.
The Wireless Emergency Alerts system broadcasts short emergency messages from cell towers to mobile phones within a defined geographic location. Every WEA-capable phone within range receives the message, according to the Federal Communications Commission. The system has been used nearly 96,000 times nationwide since its launch in 2012 to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children and other critical situations.
Silver Alerts are designed to help locate missing and endangered persons who are at least 50 years of age or older and who the reporting party believes display signs or symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, or another form of dementia, cognitive decline, or impairment, regardless of age, according to the press release.
Turquoise Alerts sent via the Wireless Emergency Alerting System are designed to help locate Native Americans who are in imminent danger of great bodily harm or death and there is enough descriptive information about the missing person to assist in locating them.
The alerts will include descriptions of the missing person, the last known location and any vehicle information if available.
When the criteria for a Silver or Turquoise Alert are met, law enforcement agencies work in coordination with state authorities to issue alerts across multiple platforms, including news outlets and cell phone notifications to maximize public awareness and improve the chances of safely locating the missing individual.
The Silver and Turquoise Alert system operates similarly to the AMBER Alert system but is specifically tailored to assist in locating at-risk adults who meet the criteria.
