The state of California recently signed into effect the “Ebony Alert,” a proposed bill dedicated to protecting Black women and children.
Earlier this week on Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom effectively put into law the new alert system with the first day it’s to be implemented set as Jan. 1, 2024.
Announced earlier this year, the law will give the California Highway Patrol the ability to activate the alert when the police put in the request. The alert will be sent to other radios, TVs, electronic highway signs and other systems to let the California citizens know about the people that are missing.
According to the newly signed bill, the alert can be activated if the person missing is between 12 and 25 years old, has a disability, went missing under “unexplained or suspicious circumstance” or if there are factors affecting their safety.
The alert would also be used if the police have already used local resources and there’s a belief that the alert would be useful in finding the missing person.
Sen. Steven Bradford, the politician who created and introduced the measure, praised Gov. Newson for his latest step in supporting and putting the bill into effect.
“Today, California is taking bold and needed action to locate missing Black children and Black women in California,” said Senator Steven Bradford per a release. “I want to thank the Governor for signing the Ebony Alert into law.”
The idea for the Ebony Alert came from criticisms from advocacy groups and policymakers that the Amber Alert System often overlooks Black children.
Currently, Black women and children often go missing at higher rates than any other demographic.
Per the latest data by the National Crime Information Center, Black women and girls specifically make up approximately 18% of the missing persons cases in the U.S.; over half a million people were reported missing by the FBI.
According to nonprofit the Black and Missing Foundation, approximately 39% of children that have gone missing in the U.S. in 2022 were Black children.
As of Oct. 11 of that year, nearly 153,400 BIPOC children were missing, composing 40% of missing persons cases.
“Our Black children and young women are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons,” said Senator Bradford. “This is heartbreaking and painful for so many families and a public crisis for our entire state.”
“The Ebony Alert can change this,” he added.
