Media Contact: 
Rochelle Cohen, (202) 418-1162
rochelle.cohen@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
FCC PROPOSES TO ADD BLUE ALERTS TO THE NATION’S 
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Proposal Aims to Protect Law Enforcement Officers and Communities
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2017 – The Federal Communications Commission today proposed to 
add an alert option to the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) to help protect the nation’s law 
enforcement officers. Called a “Blue Alert,” the option would be used by authorities in states 
across the country to notify the public through television and radio of threats to law enforcement 
and to help apprehend dangerous suspects. 
Blue Alerts can be used to warn the public when there is actionable information related to a law 
enforcement officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, or when there is 
an imminent credible threat to an officer. As a result, a Blue Alert could quickly warn you if a 
violent suspect may be in your community, along with providing instructions on what to do if you 
spot the suspect and how to stay safe.
The proposal, in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) adopted today, would amend the 
FCC’s EAS rules by creating a dedicated Blue Alert event code so that state and local agencies 
have the option to send these warnings to the public through broadcast, cable, satellite, and 
wireline video providers.
While some states have individual Blue Alert programs that use various methods to issue these 
warnings, the proposal is intended to support the development of a national framework that states 
can adopt. This goal is consistent with the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert 
Act of 2015. The Act, which is being implemented by the Department of Justice’s Office of 
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), directs cooperation with the FCC. The 
COPS Office has expressed the need for a dedicated EAS code for Blue Alerts. 
The NPRM invites public comment on the proposal. 
Action by the Commission June 22, 2017 by Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 17-74). 
Chairman Pai, Commissioners Clyburn and O’Rielly approving and issuing separate statements.
PS Docket No. 15-94
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Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
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www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order 
constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).