SURREY’S Police and Crime Commissioner is raising awareness of a government emergency alert that will sound on phones around the country in September.
The Emergency Alert System test, which will take place at 3pm on Sunday, September 7, will cause mobile devices to emit a siren-like sound for around ten seconds, even if the phone is set to silent.
Lisa Townsend warned it could expose “lifeline” secret phones hidden by survivors of domestic violence.
Modelled on similar schemes used in the US, Canada, Japan and The Netherlands, emergency alerts will warn Brits of life-threatening situations like flooding or wildfires.
Services established to support abuse survivors both nationally and in Surrey have warned that perpetrators of violence could discover hidden phones when the alarm sounds.
Commissioner’s warning
Lisa said: “Preventing violence against women and girls is a key priority, for myself and for Surrey Police.
“Across the county, there will be those who live in constant fear of harm.
“That is why many victims may purposefully keep a secret phone as a vital lifeline.
“Today, I’m sharing the Government’s advice on how to disable these alerts if needed, and I urge any abuse survivors with a hidden phone to follow the instructions below.”
How to turn off the alert
iPhones and Android phones
To opt out:
- Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
- Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’.
Other mobile phones and tablets
Depending on the manufacturer and software version of your phone, emergency alerts settings may be called different names, such as ‘wireless emergency alerts’ or ‘emergency broadcasts’.
The settings can usually be found in one of the following ways. Go to:
- ‘message’, then ‘message settings, then ‘wireless emergency alerts’, then ‘alert’
- ‘settings’, then ‘sounds’, then ‘advanced’, then ‘emergency broadcasts’
- ‘settings’, then ‘general settings’, then ‘emergency alerts’
Then turn off ‘severe alerts’, ‘extreme alerts’ and ‘test alerts’.