A California lawmaker has proposed a statewide system to notify people that a black child or young woman is missing, in hopes of reducing the disproportionate number of missing black people each year.
If the proposed law were passed, the country’s largest states would have an “ebony alert system.”
State Senator Stephen Bradford, a Democrat, introduced Senate Bill 673 “to address the neglect or lack of concern for missing black children and colored youth in California,” according to a March 23 statement from Bradford’s office.
This measure would allow law enforcement agencies to request activation of the Ebony Alert if it would assist them in their investigation of a missing Black youth or woman between the ages of 12 and 25.
The system will also encourage traditional and social media posts about information regarding the missing person.
Also, read; Zimbabwe to Criminalize Excessive Foreign Recruitment of its Health Workers
A similar Amber Alert system operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, India, and 31 other countries, according to the US Department of Justice. The alert system has helped rescue 1,127 children and save 131 children as of January 2, 2023.
Dozens of black children have been excluded from Amber Alerts because they are disproportionately classified as outliers compared to white children, the statement said, citing information from the Black and Missing Foundation.
Black children also make up 38% of missing children, despite making up just 14% of the country’s population.
“When someone who is missing is incorrectly listed as a runaway, they basically vanish a second time. They vanish from the police detectives’ workload. They vanish from the headlines. In many ways, no one even knows they are missing. How can we find someone and bring them home safely when no one is really looking for them,” Bradford, vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, said.
At the same time, there is also a media bias to ignore reports of missing black women and children compared to their white counterparts.
