'Blue Alert' added to South Dakota alert system

Makenzie Huber
Argus Leader

South Dakota added the Blue Alert to its statewide  alert system, joining the Amber Alert and the Endangered Missing Advisory.

The new alert is activated when there's a suspect at large who threatened, killed or seriously injured a law enforcement officer or if an officer is abducted or missing, the Atttorney General's Office said. The law enforcement agency investigating the situation decides if the suspect poses a threat to the public or other law enforcement members to send out the alert.

"Anyone who seriously harms or kills law enforcement officers in the line of duty poses danger to all," said Attorney General Marty Jackley in a news release.

The Blue Alert system will use the same network as Amber Alert to broadcast warnings.

The South Dakota Amber Alert is a statewide plan to notify members of state law enforcement and media about an abducted child with information to help locate them. The Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA) is used when a missing or endangered person doesn't fit criteria for an Amber Alert.