Letter: It's time shelter-in-place alarm system is adopted
On the morning of July Fourth, our family was doing what many families across the country were doing ... planning for a family gathering at our home in Deerfield. This July Fourth we were not only celebrating Independence Day, but also surprising a family member with a retirement celebration.
As yo would expect, we were not watching television, surfing the web on our devices, etc. We were busy preparing for the festivities.
Not knowing if rain was going to allow for outdoor grilling, we had ordered barbeque for pickup. Our son (living at home) was asked to go and pick it up before our company arrived. He got in his car and headed east on Deerfield Road. He called home from his car and said "Mama, something crazy is happening right now. There are police everywhere."
I said, "it's probably the parade."
Not thinking anything more about it, I went about continuing to prep for our company. Around noon, my husband received a text from a family member in Greece. The text was to notify us of an active shooter loose in the community that had opened fire on the parade in Highland Park.
Now if I had known about the tragic events of the morning, would I have sent my son out? No, I would not have. The lack of information could have put our son directly in the path of the shooter on the run.
The technology is available to alert us of emergency situations which will notify/interrupt our phones (if set). We have Amber Alerts for missing/abducted children, Silver Alerts for missing seniors and severe weather alerts for approaching storms. If we should be made aware of these crises, shouldn't we be made aware of an active shooter in our surrounding communities? I think we should.
As tragic as it is to need this type of alert, I suggest we get busy implementing a Shelter in Place (SIP) Alert across the country. Hopefully, we can keep those we love out of harm's way and keep the streets clear for first responders.
Keeping the families, loved ones, friends and first responders in our thoughts and prayers.
Tamara Costopoulos
Deerfield