Thursday, March 28, 2024

New software paves the way for AMBER Alert

New software paves the way for AMBER Alert

WINDOW ROCK

Key software will make it possible for the Navajo Nation to establish its own Amber Alert and Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye has signed a contract to purchase it.

This will be the first time a tribe spanning three states will own and operate this system on its own. Not only will the system include the AMBER Alert, but also other hazard alert systems specific to the region.

“The purchase of this software will provide us to begin an AMBER Alert system on Navajo and other emergency needs,” said Begaye. “There’s going to be communication that’s more extensive than before.”

Harlan Cleveland, acting director for the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management, was given the task of working on the project and, according to Navajo Department of Public Safety Director Jesse Delmar, Cleveland has been working on the initiative for about a year and a half.

“He sure took this project by the horns and ran with it,” Delmar said.

“He did a wonderful job in getting this done. It took a lot of effort to work with folks like Federal Emergency Management Administration, getting clearances, and most of all selecting the software company.”

The company Everbridge manufactures this software, which costs about $63,000. Cleveland explained there are three levels: emergency alert system, wireless alert system and national alert system. All have different criteria.

“We have those three capabilities,” Cleveland explained. “Of those there are different criterias down to civil to danger warnings, law enforcement warning all the way down to child abduction warning.” …


 To read the full article, pick up your copy of the Navajo Times at your nearest newsstand Thursday mornings!

Are you a digital subscriber? Read the most recent three weeks of stories by logging in to your online account.

  Find newsstand locations at this link.

Or, subscribe via mail or online here.




About The Author

Cindy Yurth

Cindy Yurth was the Tséyi' Bureau reporter, covering the Central Agency of the Navajo Nation, until her retirement on May 31, 2021. Her other beats included agriculture and Arizona state politics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in technical journalism from Colorado State University with a cognate in geology. She has been in the news business since 1980 and with the Navajo Times since 2005, and is the author of “Exploring the Navajo Nation Chapter by Chapter.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Weather & Road Conditions

Window Rock Weather

Fair

56.0 F (13.3 C)
Dewpoint: 19.9 F (-6.7 C)
Humidity: 24%
Wind: from the Southwest at 17.3 gusting to 32.2 MPH (15 gusting to 28 KT)
Pressure: 30.09

More weather »

ADVERTISEMENT