There has been some confusion regarding the proper EAS code for Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory. I want to clarify what the Advisory is and recommend the code to be used when sending a Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory.

First off, contrary to what may have been reported, Amber Alerts have NOT gone away. They still exist for the purpose of finding missing children. The Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory, MEPA, is a different alert, issued by the New Mexico State Police for the purpose of finding someone of any age who may be in danger, or are a danger to themselves or other people.

Listed below is the criterion law enforcement uses for issuing a Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory:

Do the circumstances fail to meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert? (If they do meet the AMBER Alert criteria, law enforcement will immediately issue an AMBER Alert)

Is the person missing under unexplained, involuntary or suspicious circumstances?

Is the person believed to be in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather, in the company of a potentially dangerous person or some other factor placing the person in peril?

Is information available to assist the public in the safe recovery of the missing person?


Obviously there is a bit of cross-polarization going on. A Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory can be used in place of an Amber Alert, but that is the decision of the agency issuing the alert. It expands on the New Mexico Missing Persons Act, but doesn't replace Amber Alerts.

Since a separate EAS code does NOT exist for Missing and Endangered Persons Advisories, the Emergency Communications Committee of SBE Chapter 34 was tasked by NMBA with assigning a specific code for use with EPA messages. After careful review and consideration, we are recommending that broadcasters use the code LAE, Local Area Emergency, for Missing and Endangered Persons Advisories.

The event code, LAE, is defined by the National Weather Service as "...An emergency message that defines an event that by itself does not pose a significant threat to public safety and/or property. However, the event could escalate, contribute to other more serious events..."

This definition is obviously compatible with the criteria for a MEPA. It can be issued for a specific area, or as a statewide advisory. And the code is already loaded on existing EAS encoders. All any broadcaster has to do is enable their EAS encoder for receiving and forwarding the LAE code. Unlike the Amber Alert CAE code, no equipment upgrades are required.

We are therefore recommending that participating broadcasters begin using this code immediately when Missing and Endangered Persons Advisories are issued by the State of New Mexico. Please feel free to contact Mike Snyder at 770 KKOB or Sean Anker at KOB-TV 4 with any technical questions or concerns regarding the LAE code and enabling it on your EAS encoder.


Mike Snyder, CPBE, KB0MJW
Radio Co-Chair? NM Emergency Communications Committee
Assistant Chief Engineer
Citadel Broadcasting Company-ABQ
500 4th Street, NW-Fifth Floor
Albuquerque, NM 87102
505-767-6763
mike.snyder@citcomm.com