The More You Know: What's a Mattie's Call?

Someone is missing, and police send out a "Mattie's Call".

But what is a Mattie’s Call? How does it differ from a Levi’s Call and how do police know when to issue one? Patch caught up with Cobb police spokesman Michael Smith to learn more.

He explained that there are different criteria for the two alerts.

“The state—and it’s not just Georgia—has set it so the system isn’t overly used,” Smith said. “When we use it, we want people to pay attention and as with anything else, if you get too much of it and it’s not pertinent information, people start ignoring it. That’s what we don’t want from any of those things.”

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Here’s how the Georgia Bureau of Investigation defines… 

Mattie’s Call: issued for “disable adults” who are developmentally impaired or who suffer from dementia or some other cognitive impairment.

Criteria for Activation:

• A local law enforcement agency believes a disabled person is missing and is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death
• Through its own investigation, the law enforcement agency verifies the disappearance and eliminates alternative explanations for the disabled person's disappearance
• Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the disabled person
• The missing disabled person is entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database
• The law enforcement agency must issue a statewide broadcast to law enforcement/911 centers and contact local media regarding the missing person.

Levi’s Call: Georgia’s term for an Amber Alert. These alerts are issued when a child goes missing

Criteria for Activation:

• Law enforcement officials have a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred.
• Law enforcement officials believe that the child is in imminent danger or serious bodily injury or death.
• Enough descriptive information exists about the victim and the abductor for law enforcement to issue a Levi's Call:  Georgia's AMBER Alert.
• The victim of the abduction is a child age 17 years or younger.
• The child's name and other critical data elements - including the child abduction (CA) and AMBER Alert (AA) flags - have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.

Kimberly's Call: An emergency alert issued by local law enforcement when violent criminals are at large and a serious threat to the public.

Criteria for Activation:

• The criminal has not been apprehended and may be of serious threat to the public.
• Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the suspect.
• If the criminal has been identified, arrest warrants have been obtained.
• The criminal is entered into National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
• The law enforcement agency must issue a statewide broadcast to law enforcement/911 centers.

Blue Alert: An emergency alert used to quickly apprehend violent criminals who kill or seriously injure law enforcement officers and to aid in the location of missing law enforcement officers.

Activation Criteria: 

• The suspect has not been apprehended and may be of serious threat to the public.
• Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the suspect.
• If the criminal has been identified, arrest warrants have been obtained.
• The criminal is entered into National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
• The law enforcement agency must issue a statewide broadcast to law enforcement/911 centers.
• Regarding a law enforcement officer missing in the line of duty,  sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the missing peace officer.

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