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The Amber Alert that lit up cellphones across the province Friday night prompted some irked recipients to air their beefs by calling 911, the head of the city’s emergency call centre says.

However, nearly a year after the CRTC mandated cell providers nationwide to implement wireless public alert messages over their networks, Calgary 911 commander Doug Odney said people appear to be getting used to the purposely jarring bulletins, with fewer voicing their displeasure about being inconvenienced.

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“We’ve had some inquiries before. People upset that they’re being alerted in the middle of the night,” he said.

“There’s less now than when it first started . . . but some still call to inquire or complain.”

At about 9:40 p.m. on Friday, cellphones across the province received the mandatory alert, advising that an eight-year-old boy had allegedly been abducted by his mother from his school in Edmonton. RCMP warned that his life was in “imminent danger.”

Just after 11:30 p.m., an update was pushed to cellphones, notifying recipients that the pair were thought to be travelling in a different vehicle and were believed to be in the Calgary area.

The next morning, a third alert informed recipients that the ordeal was over and the boy safe, after an off-duty Calgary police officer spotted the pair and alerted RCMP. The mother was arrested during a vehicle stop by Okotoks Mounties and is now facing a charge of abduction.

While lauding the favourable ending, Const. Mark Smith, a digital communications officer with the Calgary police, took to Twitter on Sunday to chide those who called the city’s emergency line to complain about the unexpected notifications.

“Thankful the recent Amber Alert had a successful outcome. Very disappointed to learn of people calling #Calgary 9-1-1 to complain about being woken up & interruption to their TV shows!” he tweeted.

“The decision to issue an Alert is not taken lightly but saves lives!”