REGINA — Confusion over an emergency alert issued to some Saskatchewan residents this past weekend was caused by a technical entry error, said the Sask. RCMP, and was rectified as quickly as possible.
Sask. RCMP used the SaskAlert system to warn a targeted region surrounding Melfort that an individual involved in a shooting at James Smith First Nation may be armed and dangerous in the area.
The alert, first issued at 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 5, advised residents in the affected area to “seek shelter in place” but did not include a community or area for those receiving it by text notification.
Residents in communities within an estimated 200 kilometre radius of James Smith First Nation were in the targeted alert area, including Humboldt, Prince Albert, and parts of North Battleford. Some residents in Saskatoon also received the notification.
Many residents said the lack of location information caused some panic and confusion, not knowing if the safety warning was meant for their community.
Saskatoon Police said they received several phone calls from concerned Saskatoon residents following the initial alert, prompting them to issue a statement that they were not involved in issuing the warning.
An updated alert was sent out approximately 25 minutes following the initial notification, at 9:10 p.m., said a representative from the RCMP, just minutes after communications officers realized the mistake.
It was an internal error with just the text alerts, said RCMP, which officers rectified as soon as they were made aware.
“The location information was provided in multiple areas, as noted on the SaskAlert webpage,” said RCMP, in an emailed statement. “However, it was identified that the location was not entered in the specific text message area.”
Some also criticized the size of the area the Sunday alert was sent to, saying it was unnecessarily large, but RCMP said they chose those regions based on the circumstances of the incident and concerns the suspect may attempt to flee by vehicle.
“Investigators conduct a risk assessment and consider all factors which could impact public safety to determine the geographic area impacted,” said RCMP. “Considerations they may have include the timing of the incident and types of travel by involved individuals.”
RCMP also noted that Saskatoon was not actually included in the alert’s targeted area, but many Saskatoon residents likely received the message due to being signed up for provincial alerts in another way.
According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, alerts such as these can be pushed out to targeted areas of the province at the issuing organization’s discretion.
They can be delivered to cell phones as an SMS notification, as well as through the SaskAlert and Weather Network phone apps, meaning there are several ways for a person to receive an alert that may not affect them directly.
“Anyone in the province with the [SaskAlert] app installed on their phone and who have chosen to receive province-wide alerts may also have received the alert,” said the SPSA, in an emailed statement.
Investigators with the RCMP have used emergency alerts in the past largely for province-wide amber alerts, with the first and only other dangerous person warning issued earlier this spring.
RCMP said that the SaskAlert system has proven to be an integral tool in providing immediate safety information to the public, and communication officers are continually trained on how to operate the alert system effectively.
This weekend’s alert did prove to be effective, said RCMP, with residents in the alert area immediately reporting suspicious activity to 911. The warning was cancelled at approximately 4:20 a.m., after investigators determined that the suspect and victims knew each other and the threat level to the public had diminished.
“Emergency alerting continues to be a top priority for the Saskatchewan RCMP and we have taken a number of steps over the years to enhance our response to ensure we are ready to respond quickly to unfolding public safety incidents.”
