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SPARKED CONFUSION ACROSS HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, AND ALLEGORIES ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. JUST AFTER 8:00 P.M. LAST NIGHT, RESIDENTS ACROSS HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SAW A MESSAGE APPEAR ON THEIR TELEVISION SCREENS SAYING THERE WAS A LAW ENFORCEMENT WARNING FOR THE COUNTY AND AREA OF HILLSBOROUGH. THE BEDFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT WAS IN A STANDOFF WITH A MAN THEY BELIEVED WAS ARMED AND BARRICADED HIMSELF INSIDE A VEHICLE IN THE AREA OF OAK DRIVE AND GLENN ROAD. >> IT WAS THE INTENT OF THE BEDFORD POLICE AS I UNDERSTAND IT TO MAKE SURE THAT MESSAGING GOT OUT THAT WOULD APPROPRIATELY NOTIFY RESIDENTS IN THE AREA TO TAKE APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES SO THAT THEY WOULDN’T BE IN HARM’S WAY. JESSICA: NEW HAMPSHIRE’S DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY SAYS THE BEDFORD POLICE IS CREDENTIALED TO ISSUE THE ALERT AND THE SYSTEM THEY USE HAS THE CAPABILITY TO GO TO A SPECIFIC AREA. >> YOU CAN RESTRICT IT TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, WITHIN SOM CONSTRAINTS, PARTICULARLY TO THE JURISDICTION OR GEOGRAPHICAL AREA YOU WANT TO TARGET AS WELL. JESSICA: WMUR GOT CALLS AND EMAILS FROM PEOPLE ALL OVER HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. >> IT SOUNDED LIKE IT WENT OUT A LITTLE BROADER THAN IT HAD ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO BE. JESSICA: THE STATE’S DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY SAYS CREDIBILITY IS A PRIORITY WHEN USING THE ALERT SYSTEM. >> YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUBLIC IS GOING TO BENEFIT FROM THAT MESSAGE. IF WE ARE HITTING AND AUGMENTS OR TARGET POPULATION THAT MAY NOT BENEFIT FROM IT OR HAS MORE QUESTIONS THAN WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE OF -- MESSAGE OR THE INTENT OF THE MESSAGE, THEN IT BECOMES PROBLEMATIC. JESSICA: LATE TODAY, WORKING WITH THEIR PUBLIC RELATIONS COMPANY, THE BEDFORD POLICE READ A STATEMENT ON CAMERA TO ADDRESS THE CONFUSION. >> IT WAS THE INTENTION FOR THIS TO BE BROADCAST WITHIN A HALF-MILE RADIUS OF THE SCENE, BUT WE UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE WENT FURTHER INTO HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY THAN WE INITIALLY INTENDED. JESSICA: IN THE STATEMENT, THE BEDFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS THEY ARE REVIEWING ALL ASPECTS OF THIS CASE, INCLUDING THE USE OF THE ALERT SYSTEM AND THE SETTINGS THAT INCLUDE

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An investigation is underway after residents across Hillsborough County received an emergency alert on their TV screens Monday evening about a standoff, even though the incident was taking place in one specific area in Bedford.The alert created confusion throughout Hillsborough County, and now officials are trying to figure out what happened. The alert scrolled on residents' TV screens just after 8 p.m. It said there was a law enforcement warning for the county and area of Hillsborough. The Bedford Police Department was in a standoff at the time with a man who they believed was armed, who had barricaded himself inside a vehicle in the area of Oak Drive and Glenn Road."It was the intent of the Bedford police, as I understand it, to make sure that messaging got out that would appropriately notify residents in the area to take appropriate precautionary measures so that they wouldn't be in harm's way," said Mark Doyle, of the New Hampshire Department of Safety.Doyle said Bedford police are credentialed to issue the alert, and the system has the ability to restrict alerts to a specific area. "You can restrict it to a certain degree, within some constraints, to the jurisdiction or geographical area you want to target, as well," Doyle said.WMUR received calls and emails from people across Hillsborough County who were confused about what was going on."It sounded like it went out a little broader than it had originally intended to be," Doyle said.Doyle said credibility is a priority when using the alert system. "You want to make sure that the public is going to benefit from that message, and if we are hitting an audience that may not benefit from it or has more questions than what may have been in the original message of the intent of the message, then it becomes problematic," he said.Bedford police released a statement Tuesday saying they intended for the alert to be broadcast within a half-mile radius, but it went further than intended.