(a) “ACIM Alert Program” means the “A Child Is Missing Alert Program,” a national rapid-response communication network that offers free assistance to law-enforcement agencies to aid in the recovery, identity, or apprehension of missing persons through the use of immediate public notification and dissemination of information via telephone in a targeted community.

(b) “Gold Alert Program” means the program established in subchapter VII of this chapter to aid in the identification and location of certain missing persons.

(c) “Investigating law-enforcement agency” means the law-enforcement agency that has primary jurisdiction over the area in which a law-enforcement officer has been injured or killed.

(d) “Law-enforcement agency” means a government agency or any subunit thereof which performs the administration of criminal justice pursuant to statute or executive order, and which allocates a substantial part of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice. For the purposes of this subchapter, such agencies shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The Delaware State Police;

(2) All law-enforcement agencies and police departments of any political subdivision of this State;

(3) The Department of Correction; and

(4) The Department of Justice.

(e) “Law-enforcement officer” includes police officers, the Attorney General and the Attorney General’s deputies, sheriffs and their regular deputies, agents of the State Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, correctional officers, state fire marshals, municipal fire marshals that are graduates of a Delaware Police Academy which is accredited/authorized by the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission, sworn members of the City of Wilmington Fire Department who have graduated from a Delaware Police Academy which is authorized/accredited by the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission, environmental protection officers, enforcement agents of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and constables. For purposes of this subchapter, “law-enforcement officer” also includes an employee of a federal governmental agency who is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any person for, any violation of law, and who has statutory powers of arrest. For purposes of this subchapter, sheriffs and their regular deputies shall not have any arrest authority.

77 Del. Laws, c. 469, §  1;  78 Del. Laws, c. 266, §  7;  84 Del. Laws, c. 149, § 8; 

Each investigating law-enforcement agency shall implement an alert program, consistent with the ACIM Alert Program and the Gold Alert Program, for the apprehension of persons suspected of killing or seriously injuring law-enforcement officers, and may promulgate necessary rules and regulations for implementing the program. The rules and regulations shall include the following:

(1) Procedures for the use of the Delaware Information Analysis Center to provide support to the investigating law-enforcement agency as a resource for the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of information regarding the suspect and the suspect’s whereabouts and/or method of escape;

(2) The process for reporting the information to designated media outlets in Delaware; and

(3) Procedures for the investigating law-enforcement agency to determine quickly whether an officer has been “seriously injured or killed” and a Blue Alert therefore needs to be activated.

77 Del. Laws, c. 469, §  1; 

(a) The Blue Alert Program shall be activated when a suspect for a crime involving the death or serious injury of a law-enforcement officer has not been apprehended and may be a serious threat to the public. Upon notification by an investigating law-enforcement agency that a suspect in a case involving the death or serious injury of a peace officer has not been apprehended and may be a serious threat to the public, the investigating law-enforcement agency shall activate the Blue Alert system and shall notify appropriate participants in the Blue Alert system, as established by regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter, when the investigating law-enforcement agency believes that:

(1) A suspect has not been apprehended;

(2) A suspect may be a serious threat to the public; and

(3) Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating and apprehending the suspect.

(b) When a Blue Alert is activated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the investigating law-enforcement agency shall provide the descriptive information to the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System and the National Crime Information Center system. The investigating law-enforcement agency shall also notify the Delaware Information Analysis Center, which shall make all necessary notifications and provide appropriate assistance to the investigating law-enforcement agency.

(c) When an investigating law-enforcement agency receives notice that a law-enforcement officer has been seriously injured or killed, the agency shall send an alert to designated media outlets in Delaware. The alert must include all appropriate information that may assist in the speedy apprehension of the suspect, including a statement instructing any person with information relating to the incident causing the serious injury or death of the law-enforcement officer to contact the investigating law-enforcement agency.

(d) The investigating law-enforcement agency shall assess the appropriate boundaries of the Blue Alert based on the nature of the suspect and the circumstances surrounding the crime. The Blue Alert area may be less than statewide if the investigating law-enforcement agency determines that the nature of the event makes it probable that the suspect did not leave a designated geographic location.

77 Del. Laws, c. 469, §  1; 

(a) The investigating law-enforcement agency shall terminate the Blue Alert with respect to a particular suspect when the suspect is located or the incident is otherwise resolved, or when the investigating law-enforcement agency determines that the Blue Alert system is no longer an effective tool for locating and apprehending the suspect.

(b) The investigating law-enforcement agency shall notify other law-enforcement agencies, Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, National Crime Information Center, the Delaware Information Analysis Center, and other appropriate participants in the Blue Alert system, when a Blue Alert for a particular suspect has been terminated. The investigating law-enforcement agency shall also notify the designated media outlets when a Blue Alert for a particular suspect has been terminated.

77 Del. Laws, c. 469, §  1;