Blue Alerts are issued for wanted persons who are suspected of killing or seriously injuring a law enforcement officer.

Citizens throughout the huge state of Texas received a Blue Alert on their phones at midnight after a Clay County sheriff’s deputy was shot during an attempted traffic stop on Monday night.

That’s like a flood alert issued for the entire Lone Star state because a water main broke in a one-traffic-light town.

Texans received the Blue Alert in the middle of the night with no information. Keep in mind that most Texans don’t know the difference between a Blue Alert and a Blue Light Special at KMART. Some of the more conspiracy-minded Republicans probably thought the Blue Alert signified that one of the AWOL Democratic House Democrats had been spotted in their neighborhood.

I don’t mind if an Amber Alert wakes me up in the middle of the night, because it’s imperative that an abducted child be found as soon as possible.

But I’m not going to lose much sleep over a cop who is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, after all they knew the risks of the job when they enrolled in the police academy.

It’s a tragedy whenever a law enforcement officer is shot in the line of duty and I hope the suspect is apprehended, but did a Blue Alert really need to be issued?