The sudden sound of an emergency alert coming from a cellphone can be startling, inconvenient and, depending on the time of day, downright unwelcome. However, those alerts are designed to quickly put potentially lifesaving information into the hands of millions of people who may be in a position to help locate a missing person, identify a suspect or protect themselves from an immediate threat.
In Texas, a growing number of people have chosen to disable at least some of those notifications. Research has found that Texas has the highest rate in the nation of people opting out of at least one category of Wireless Emergency Alerts, raising questions about how to keep the public informed without creating so much notification fatigue that people stop paying attention altogether.
Texas Has Seven Statewide Alert Programs
The Texas Department of Public Safety coordinates seven programs that can be used to distribute urgent information to the public: AMBER Alerts, Silver Alerts, Blue Alerts, Endangered Missing Persons Alerts, CLEAR Alerts, Power Outage Alerts and Active Shooter Alerts.
Each serves a different purpose and has specific requirements that must generally be met before it can be activated. DPS works with a statewide network that includes law enforcement, the Texas Department of Transportation, the National Weather Service, media outlets and other organizations to quickly distribute qualifying information.
The best-known is the AMBER Alert, which is used in qualifying cases involving missing or abducted children who are believed to be in immediate danger. The system has deep Texas roots. It developed following the 1996 abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, and the Dallas-Fort Worth program became the model for the nationwide AMBER Alert system.
Silver Alerts are intended for qualifying missing senior citizens, while Endangered Missing Persons Alerts address certain cases involving individuals with intellectual disabilities. A CLEAR Alert, short for Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue Alert, helps fill the gap for adults who do not qualify for an AMBER or Silver Alert and who may have been kidnapped, abducted or be in immediate danger.
Blue Alerts provide information following qualifying attacks involving law enforcement officers and can help authorities locate suspects who may pose a continuing threat. Texas also has statewide systems for certain active shooter situations and power outages.
Why Public Participation Matters
An alert transforms a missing-person or public-safety investigation from something being handled by a limited number of officers into something potentially being seen by thousands or even millions of people.
A vehicle description, license plate, photograph, direction of travel or description of a missing person can suddenly be seen by someone at a convenience store, on the highway, at work or simply looking out a window.
That does not mean everyone receiving an alert is expected to actively search for the person involved. Instead, the goal is awareness. Someone who happens to see a vehicle or person matching an alert can provide information to law enforcement that investigators otherwise might never have received. DPS describes the purpose of the statewide network as rapidly notifying the public in order to generate tips and investigative leads.
That public involvement can be particularly important during the first hours of a missing-person investigation, when quickly distributing accurate information may greatly expand law enforcement’s reach.
But Texas Has an Alert-Fatigue Problem
There is another side to the issue. A 2024 RAND study examining the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system found that an estimated 17.5% of U.S. adults with working cellphones had opted out of at least one category of wireless emergency alerts. AMBER Alerts were the category most commonly disabled.
Texas stood out. The state’s opt-out rate was more than five times that of Vermont, one of the states with the lowest rates. Subsequent reporting on the study placed Texas’ opt-out rate at approximately 29.5% — the highest in the country.
Researchers also identified a possible relationship between the number and geographic reach of alerts people receive and their willingness to continue receiving them. States with historically high numbers of AMBER Alerts tended to have higher opt-out rates, and Texas has frequently issued alerts across very large geographic areas. That creates a difficult balance for public-safety officials.
Sending an alert to a larger area increases the number of people who could potentially see something useful. However, repeatedly sending people alerts about incidents hundreds of miles away may make some recipients conclude the notifications are irrelevant to them. Eventually, they may disable the alerts altogether. Once that happens, they may also miss the alert that is relevant to them.
Texas Is Studying the Problem
The issue has received enough attention that Texas lawmakers have moved to examine how the state’s alert systems operate.
An alert notification system working group was established to study statewide notification systems, including the effects of what lawmakers describe as “notification fatigue.” The group is tasked with evaluating the systems and making recommendations for improving their effectiveness and streamlining their operation. A report is due to state leaders and lawmakers by Dec. 1, 2026.
The discussion illustrates the challenge facing emergency managers: an alert system must reach enough people to be effective without being used so broadly or frequently that the public begins ignoring it.
Texas DPS already uses individual criteria for its alert programs in part to protect the integrity of the system and reduce public desensitization. Only law enforcement or another authorized entity can request activation of the statewide network, and qualifying information must be available that could reasonably help the public or law enforcement respond.
Before Turning Alerts Off, Know What You’re Disabling
For cellphone users, emergency alert settings can generally be found within the device’s notification or safety and emergency settings, although the exact location and available options vary by phone and wireless carrier.
Residents who have disabled alerts may want to review those settings and understand which categories have been turned off. Receiving an alert does not require someone to leave home, join a search or place themselves in danger. In most cases, it simply asks the recipient to read the information, remain aware and contact law enforcement if they happen to have information that could help.
For those who prefer another method, Texas DPS also allows members of the public to subscribe at no cost to alert flyers by email. DPS publishes information about active alerts and its statewide alert programs online.
The debate over how frequently emergency notifications should be sent and how widely they should be distributed is likely to continue. Public officials have an interest in ensuring alerts are targeted and meaningful, while residents ultimately decide which notifications they allow on their devices.
But the purpose behind the system remains simple: get critical information to the right person at the right time. Sometimes, the person who happens to notice a face, a vehicle or a license plate is the person who provides the lead law enforcement needs.
