Pardon Our Dust
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In a Jan. 21, 2022, article for The Washington Times, McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president Mike Andrews examined the lack of attention on missing and murdered Native American women in the United States.
Mike noted that the FBI’s National Crime Information Center reports 5,712 current cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, while the Justice Department’s missing persons databases report only 116 cases.
Part of the problem, he said, is there are four separate and distinct federal law enforcement agency databases recording information on the ongoing crisis. The databases are not accessible to tribal law enforcement officers, which prevents a clear understanding of the nature of missing persons and how the numbers are changing.
Mike recommended using data analytics to study the problem, as well as “off the shelf” investigative data-driven tools, such as LexisNexis Accurint Virtual Crime Center, which is a powerful tool for finding people.
He concluded: “It’s time the U.S. law enforcement apparatus gave missing persons in Indian Country the attention it deserves, which means federal law enforcement agencies working in sync with one another, as well as the tribal law enforcement officers who are in the best possible position to help them solve these pressing cases — before time runs out.”