Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: 612-919-5918
Update on Erroneous Shelter in Place Alert
April 23, 2024 (Plymouth, MN) - Last night at 7:34 pm, a shelter in place warning was issued beyond its intended area. This warning was intended only for the 3600-3700 block of Hubbard and West Broadway in Robbinsdale. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) offered an update to the alert on social media and directly to news media to clarify that it was sent beyond its intended radius in error. The shelter in place warning for the intended area in Robbinsdale was cleared around 10:33 pm.
This warning was meant to be sent to the target area of Robbinsdale by Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA), which is a component of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). Instead it was sent as an Emergency Alert System (EAS) alert, which resulted in the alert being aired on most broadcast television stations in the Twin Cities Metro region.
This occurred because of human error at HCSO's Emergency Communications Facility (ECF). The staff member who sent the alert is certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to send these alerts, and HCSO has identified the step in the alert process that resulted in the mistake. HCSO plans to contact the software developer with a suggested fix to make this type of error less likely, and ECF leadership is already working with Hennepin County Emergency Management to update our standard operating procedures related to these alerts.
– HCSO–
Look for more news on the Hennepin County Sheriff's website at hennepinsheriff.org.
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