This week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation that adds a new type of alert to the state’s emergency notification system – the Ebony Alert.
This new alert is specifically for missing Black youth, and it was created in response to racial disparities among missing persons.
“According to data from the 2019 United States Census, people who are Black or African American make up 13.4% of the United States population. However, nearly 4 percent of missing persons are people of color,” said Senate Bill 673.
Existing laws authorizes California’s law enforcement agencies to request the Department of California Highway Patrol to activate the Emergency Alert System in certain cases. These include children younger than 17 years of age or individuals with a proven mental or physical disability that may have been abducted or are in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
Nationwide, around 600,000 people go missing every year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. Young Americans under age 18 account for approximately 35% of reported cases.
Specific alerts in California also include the “Silver Alert” for people age 65 or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired who are reported missing, and “Feather Alerts” for endangered indigenous people who have been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.
“This bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate an ‘Ebony Alert,’ with respect to Black youth, including young women and girls, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, at risk, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted,” the legislation explained.
Although missing children have become more publicized in the U.S. over the past two decades – helping authorities locate nearly 98% of missing children – Black persons make up a disproportionate number of those who are missing. Black women and girls are at especially high risk for being harmed. Nearly 40% of sex trafficking victims are Black women.
“According to data from the 2019 United States Census, people who are Black or African American make up 13.4% of the United States population. However, nearly 4% of missing persons are people of color,” said Senate Bill 673. As of 2021, 177,500 Black adults and children were reported missing.
“I thank the Legislature for highlighting this important issue, addressing well documented disproportionality in the number of children of color who go missing every year,” said Newsom in a statement on the new legislation.
Black missing children are also more likely than white children to be classified as runaways. When they are classified this way, AMBER Alerts are not issued for them, “which ultimately means that fewer resources are allotted to safe return of Black children,” according to the legislation. Under the “Ebony Alert” system, the Department of the California Highway Patrol may assist the investigating law enforcement agency by issuing a be-on-the-lookout alert, an electronic flyer, or changeable message signs.
“Our emergency alert system is dependent on people not being fatigued by it and thus ignoring it. Our challenge is to achieve balance between the imperative to notify the public quickly in cases of missing persons or dangerous situations, but to not desensitize that same public by sending too many notifications,” said Newsom in his statement. “To work towards this balance, I have directed the California Highway Patrol and the Office of Emergency Services to propose reforms through the budget to ensure consistency for all of California’s alert programs. I look forward to working with the Legislature to accomplish this work.”
