Tribal leaders cite problems with California’s Feather Alert for missing indigenous people
California Politics
Anabel SosaJanuary 29, 2024
Then Yurok tribe member Danielle Ipia-Vigil
disappearedmissing
in San Francisco last summer, her family asked
That
the state police issue a Feather Alert in the event of an emergency
notification alert
intended to help authorities locate
I
indigenous people going missing in California.
But the request was denied, leaving Ipia-Vigil as one of three known cases
N
people living in California who went missing in the past year
and for whom the request has been submitted
a spring alarm
request
somewhat rejected. Since the
alert
system began a year ago, authorities have issued only two of the five requested Feather Alerts, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP official said local officers denied the requests because they did not meet criteria, including that the person went missing under suspicious circumstances and
believed by, and
to be civil servants
believe the person is
in danger.
But the denials have fueled concerns
N
communities that the system wanted to help locate
I miss
indigenous people
who go missing
does not work as intended.
We have had two successful Feather Alerts and numerous denials, said Taralyn Ipia
while talking about her sister Danielle, who went missing in June,
during a summer press conference Wednesday
in comments about her sister Danielle, who went missing in June
. She was later found and details about her case are limited. Refusing a Feather Alert based on opinions contradicts its basis [this] legislation.”
Now, policymakers in Sacramento are reevaluating how well the law is working
. More than that
a dozen
members of
California
s tribal member communities
collected at the
stands
Capitol last week demanded information about the three denied missing persons reports. They are also asking to remove a statute that requires local law enforcement
agencies
to act as a buffer between tribes and the CHP, and instead open the door to cooperation between state and tribal police.
“The alert must be issued by CHP in the manner in which it is structured. But the
intermediary
is the local law enforcement agency to which the request comes,” the spokesperson said
CHP Officer Sheriff Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol
Sean Duryee, who testified at the hearing. “Some are doing really well. What we’ve been told is that sometimes that’s the case
intermediary
creates problems for the tribal communities.”
The point of
The Feather Alert, logged in
created by
a law passed in 2022,
is designed to create a system similar to
the Amber Alert, which has been in effect since the i
nception creation
established in 1996
more than over
1,100 missing children across the country. Assemblymember James Ramos (D-Highland), the first California Native American elected to the Legislature, argued that the state needed a separate system for missing indigenous people because of the high rates of violence and kidnappings in tribal communities. It is one of seven categories of missing persons reports in California.
New data shows the CHP approved all six Amber Alert requests it received in the same year it denied three
requested
Feather warning
requests.requests
.
Leaders and members of nearby tribes
everywhere
the state, including the Yurok and Me-wuk
people
arrived early at the
stands
Capitol is asking for clarity on these requirements and
for
reports of missing persons must be dealt with urgently.
We can’t get in the middle of the California Highway Patrol and the tribe, Yurok Tribe Chairman Joe James said:
who lives
near the lower Klamath River. Why were they rejected?
Currently,
There are 151 active cases of missing American Indians/Alaska Natives in California. At least one of the rejected Feather Alerts
fallen
came from Humboldt County, which currently has the highest number
missing
fallen.
Durye did not go into detail about the rejected cases during the hearing, citing privacy laws, but said the officer who responded to the requests
,
“I didn’t feel like the criteria was met.”
Tribal members said these denials are reminiscent of historical trauma related to decades of underreporting
fallen off
missing and murdered people the reason why
F
eat
a
learns what was created in the first place.
There are so many factors that determine whether they are missing,
continued
Duryee
said
. The fact that someone does not qualify for Veeralarm does not mean that we wash our hands clean.
Duryee said
That
law enforcement agencies still have the power to perform traditional police work,
such as its use
license plate recognition or mobile phone data. Just because a warning hasn’t been issued doesn’t mean police aren’t working on it, he said.
During the emotional, hours-long hearing
preceded by
the Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs,
Native
individuals
from different tribal nations
expressed distrust in the state’s system for reporting crimes and missing persons.
Merri Lopez Keifer,
the
director of Native Affairs for the California Department of Justice, tested that her team re-evaluate data on crimes against tribal members, citing possible misidentification of race and under-reporting.
That
missing persons report
only
allow for
only
a single breed category should be selected, which does not take into account the “extensive landscape and regional differences” in the state.
“This approach may miss potential cases involving multiracial individuals,”
Lopez-Keifershe
said. “It is especially relevant in the context of American Indians/Alaska Natives, who are often racially misclassified as
white,
Spanish or Asian.”
“We don’t necessarily know the number, it’s the truth,” she said.
Tribal communities are asking for changes
to be made
the law, including giving tribal law enforcement authority to issue Feather Alerts. Ramos said he plans to propose legislation in the coming weeks.
“Today’s hearing was intended to get ideas out there,”
heRamos
told
The
Time. “And now we get to work.”
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.