West Virginia Code Chapter 15. Public Safety § 15-3C-2. Findings and declarations relative to the “Blue Alert Plan”

(1) Public alerts can be one of the most effective tools in locating criminal suspects;

(2) The disappearance of a law-enforcement officer in the line of duty or a person who kills or inflicts a life-threatening injury upon a law-enforcement officer poses a serious threat to the safety of the public, and the rapid dissemination of information, including a description of the missing law-enforcement officer, suspect, or suspects, details of the crime, and of any vehicles involved, to the citizens of the affected community and region is, therefore, critical;

(3) Alerted to the situation, the citizenry become an extensive network of eyes and ears serving to assist law enforcement in quickly locating and safely notifying the law-enforcement community of the location of the missing law-enforcement officer, suspect, or suspects;

(4) The most effective method of immediately notifying the public of the location of a missing law-enforcement officer or a person who kills or inflicts a life-threatening injury upon a law-enforcement officer is through the broadcast media; and

(5) All forms of developing technologies are required to assist law enforcement in rapidly responding to these alerts and are an additional tool for assuring the well-being and safety of our law-enforcement officers and the public. Thus, the use of traffic video recording and monitoring devices for the purpose of surveillance of a suspect vehicle adds yet another set of eyes to assist law enforcement and aid in locating a missing law-enforcement officer or the apprehension of a suspect or suspects who kill or inflict a life-threatening injury upon a law-enforcement officer.