California Bill Would Create Missing Persons Alert for Only Black Women and Children

In order to solely inform the public when black women and children go missing, a new bill being proposed in California would establish an” Ebony Alert” product. This missing persons call procedure would only be for dark women and children, even though the condition already has one.

Currently, the condition has three alerts: an Amber notice for missing kids, a Silver Alert for older people who are missing, and an indigenous person’s’s missing person notice. In contrast to the Ebony Alert, the Amber Alert program does not have racial segregation.

State Senator Steven Bradford stated in a statement that the race-based crime bill did” address the frequently ignored or lack of attention given to African children and young African women that are missing in California.”

His justification is that because black children, who made up 38 percent of those reported missing in the US, are frequently categorized as fugitives, the Amber Alert product is never activated when they go missing.

The bill did persuade law enforcement to use the Ebony Alert” if that company determines that it would be an efficient product in the analysis of a missing African youth or small Black women between the ages of 12 and 25 years ,” but it does not alter the criteria for determining whether if he or she is on the run.

Additionally, it may motivate media outlets to report on these kidnappings.

The Amber Alerts are only for people who are known to have been kidnapped. Although it lacks a racist component, Bradford’s’s interpretation is that it is unfair and contains some sort of implicit bias.

According to California’s’s Amber Alert product,” Verification that an suicide has occurred or a child was taken by nobody, including, but not limited to, custodial parent or guardian ,” the following requirements must be met in order for an AMBER Alert to become activated.

The suspect is either 17 years old or younger, or they have a documented mental or physical illness. The suspect faces immediate risk of death or serious bodily harm. There is material around that, if made public, may help the victim recover safely.

According to Bradford,” The Ebony Alert did make sure that information and interest are given so that we can find missing Black women and Black children just as we would look for any missing children or person.”

” When something goes missing and is mistakenly identified as a runaway, they essentially disappear again.” They disappear from the task of the officers police. They disappear from the news stories. In many cases, nobody even realizes they are missing. When no one is actually looking for something, how can we find them and bring them home comfortably, he asked.