Amber, Ashanti, Blue, Silver: What do the different alerts mean?

Amber, Ashanti, Blue and Silver Alerts: What do they mean and when are they used?

Read on to find out.

What is an Amber Alert?

The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Texas. AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.

After Hagerman's murder, Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters and local police developed an early warning system to help find abducted children, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The alert system was later adopted by other states across the nation. 

What is an Ashanti Alert?

An Ashanti Alert is for adults older than 17 (unlike an Amber Alert). According to the N.C. Center for Missing Persons, the Ashanti Alert establishes a voluntary nationwide communication network to aid in the search and recovery of missing persons between the ages of 18 and 64.

The Ashanti Alert Act was passed in 2018. It was named in honor of Ashanti Billie, who was abducted and killed in 2017.

What is a Blue Alert?

North Carolina triggered a "Blue Alert" after Sgt. Philip Dale Nix was shot trying to stop a crime in Greensboro on Dec. 30, 2023.

A Blue Alert is used to notify the media and the public when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed. The alert will include details of any suspect or vehicle to help law enforcement and the public quickly identify and catch a suspect.

The Blue Alert concept is similar to the Amber Alert used for missing, endangered children or the Silver Alert used for older adults.

North Carolina is one of 36 states to use the Blue Alert in this way.

The Blue Alert started in Florida, where the first law, known as the "LEO Alert" was passed in 2008. It has been law in North Carolina since 2016, but it appears that Nix's shooting was the first time it was widely used in the Tar Heel State.

What is a Silver Alert?

A Silver Alert is issued when a vulnerable adult goes missing.

"To help protect an increasing population of individuals that suffer from Dementia or Alzheimer's North Carolina developed the Silver Alert program to quickly disseminate descriptive information about the missing elderly person who may be endangered," the N.C. Center for Missing Person said on its website.