Amber Alert vs. Baseball ticket sales
I saw several Amber Alert warnings on the freeways earlier this month. The displays, just like the one pictured below, show information about the abduction of young children and about the abductor: the car that was used, age of the person, the license plate, the clothes they were wearing, etc. That same day I saw 4 displays on the 5 North freeway displaying the fresh Amber Alert.
The 5th display, instead of showing the Amber alert, showed directions to the nearby baseball game that was happening at the Angel’s Stadium.
Very soon, more and more displays showed the directions to the stadium on both sides of the freeway instead of the Amber alert. This was surprising, as these displays could have been used to show the Amber Alert instead of advertising for a business that wanted more customers that very night.
What is your opinion on this? The displays on the freeway are owned by the city, and thus they have control over it. Is it not then the responsibility of any city to put its full effort on utilizing every resource available to save a life that may be in danger instead of advertising and getting more tickets sold? The games at the stadium do happen once a while and they need exposure. However, when something like the abduction of a child happens at the same time, we need to spread the word to as many people as possible. Majority of the people who watch baseball games already know a game is happening; thus, losing a few displays on the freeway to a child safety alert will not result in a loss, in my view.
Here is a picture of the Amber Alert system I was mentioning. You can see the bigger version of the photo to see things clearly on the display, if you wish. This was taken on June 12th, 2006 around evening, on the 5 North freeway.
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( June 21st, 2006 at 11:45 pm )
Hmm, I suppose I hold the same view you do. I’m sure it comes down to the city being paid to display the information regarding the basketball game. Still, who knows if it is the right thing to do. Let’s just be thankful that they don’t occupy all of the signs with basketball!
( June 22nd, 2006 at 9:14 am )
i agree with you. but sometimes when money is involved, morals don’t matter so much to some people.
( June 22nd, 2006 at 3:37 pm )
Yeah, money is the keyword here… I don’t think that it is right to do that vs. an Amber Alert though…
( June 28th, 2006 at 2:17 am )
Noah Duffy — > Yes, it comes down to the payment and the contract. I guess it’s better to have some signs in effect than none of them.
Stacee — > Yeah, so true.
Chau — > Yes, money vs. Amber Alert, or the issue that Amber Alert aims to tackle.
( June 5th, 2008 at 7:48 am )
honestly it shouldn’t be an issue… They are letting government get involved in some things that (i think) could be better handled by private organizations. The amber alert system could replaced with something much better that wouldn’t cost the taxpayers anything… and baseball rocks!