Washington creates nation’s first statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a bill into law Thursday that will create an alert system for missing Indigenous people, the first statewide system of its kind.

The bill would put an advisory alert system in place for missing Indigenous people who are believed to be in danger, but who do not qualify for an America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) alert.

Washington H.B. 1725 was initially requested by the state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) and introduced by state Representative Debra Lekanoff (D), the only Native American member of the Washington legislature.

“I am proud to say that the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s and People’s Alert System came from the voices of our Native American leaders,” said Lekanoff at the bill signing. “It’s not just an Indian issue, it’s not just an Indian responsibility. Our sisters, our aunties, our grandmothers are going missing every day … and it’s been going on for far too long.”

“This bill brings more justice and accountability to this important issue and will help recovery efforts,” added Inslee.

A 2022 Washington state legislative report on missing and murdered Native American women showed that as of 2019, 56 women, or 7 percent, of the 784 missing women in the state of Washington were Indigenous despite the Indigenous racial group making up only 2 percent of the state’s total population.

Indigenous males accounted for 5 percent of missing males in the state, also as of 2019, per the report.

The bill expands the state’s Endangered Missing Person Advisory (EMPA) system to include missing Indigenous persons.

An EMPA alert may be sent out in Washington state if a missing person is deemed to be a vulnerable adult, to have developmental disabilities or age-related dementia. The EMPA system also includes a Silver Alert designation for missing endangered persons 60 years old and older.

Both AMBER and EMPA alerts are operated by the Washington State Patrol, which is in charge of the Missing Children and Endangered Person (MCEP) Clearinghouse.

Local, state and tribal agencies, as well as radio and television stations and cable and satellite systems, cooperate in the MCEP Clearinghouse to aid in the recovery of missing people who don’t qualify for AMBER alerts.