Let's talk emergency alerts real quick. Specifically, let's talk WEA on Android. So, on Android, there are a few different categories of alerts. These range in severity from tests, to public safety messages and AMBER alerts, all the way up to "extreme" threats. As far as I'm aware, all of these produce the exact same alert on the phone. In particular, they have the same alert tone. Do I even need to say how bad a fucking idea this is?!
If AMBER alerts sound the exact same as, say, an earthquake warning, an evacuation/shelter-in-place notice, or a tornado warning, why would you keep AMBER alerts on? After all, if the two sound the same, how are you supposed to tell if your phone is going off because of a missing child or a serious threat to yourself? And with the fact that AMBER alerts can get issued in the middle of the night, why take the risk of being awoken by one of those just for a missing child?
And, mind you, wireless AMBER alerts aren't a bad idea in and of themselves. But they shouldn't have the same sound as a thing telling you to hide because a tornado's about to touchdown!
Okay, so now add on the latest stupidity: blue alerts. On some level, the thinking might be reasonable. If a guy who's shot someone is on the run and poses a threat to safety, it makes sense to warn people. But, a guy who shot a cop then fled does not a "severe threat to life or property" make. So, if you end up issuing those too liberally, you risk making people turn off "Severe Alerts" the way they turned off AMBER alerts.
Anyways, to wrap up, Android really needs to have properly different sounds for different emergency alerts, cops should really think twice about how they're doing this whole "blue alert" thing, and I now have severe alerts turned off because I don't give a shit about cops getting shot by guys who fled, even though it means I'll probably miss, like, flash flood warnings.
