There is now a new alert system for missing native people in Washington. The Missing Indigenous Person Alert went into effect on July 1. Leaders believe it is one of the first steps to addressing the Missing Indigenous Women and People crisis in Washington. It is called the Missing Indigenous Person Alert or MIPA.
Washingtonians will now see missing person alerts specifically about Indigenous people.
While natives make up less than 2% of Washington’s population, the health board’s study shows native women are four times more likely to go missing than white women.
Many already have an idea of how these types alerts work. When an Indigenous person is reported missing to tribal or local police, the investigator on the case now has the option to ask Washington State Patrol (WSP) to issue an alert. Both agencies must agree before the alert is sent out.
Once approved and activated, the MIPA alert will show on highway signs, social media and WSP’s Twitter page. The MIPA alerts won’t be as visible as AMBER alerts, but that could change by year’s end.
Washington state has decided to do something about the horrible facts facing Indigenous people. The state has the 2nd most missing Indigenous people in the U.S. Washington state and Seattle in particular have some of the highest numbers of missing Indigenous people in the country, according to a study conducted by the Seattle Indian Health Board.
The stats are sobering and sad. For instance, native women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average, according to federal data. It’s a crisis that Washington will now be the first to address with the new statewide alert system that lawmakers hope will result in more Indigenous people being reunited with their families.
