UK police develop national emergency alert system

The UK police are developing a national emergency messaging system that will be used to issue vital alerts to the public on a range of incidents from child abductions to emergency situations.

The technology behind the system is being developed by police IT body the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) along with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The Metropolitan Police is the lead force developing the processes.

The current specification is that police forces will feed details of any incident which meets the criteria set for emergency alerts into a system called the 'Police Portal'. Subscribers to this service, which will include public and private sector bodies with a responsibility for public safety, will then receive an alert, for example, by text message to a mobile phone.

The Metropolitan Police said the Portal could potentially be used to alert the public about national emergencies, and will not just be used as a child abduction alert system, like the Amber alert system in the US.

Richard Jackson, e-policing co-ordinator at the Metropolitan Police, said: "We are talking here about a messaging system for high volumes. We are really talking about public safety messages. It is being built as a national system."

He said the implementation plan for the system should be ready in "early 2005". The PITO implementation group has representatives from the Metropolitan police, the Home Office and the Cabinet Office.