New emergency alert code to help spotlight missing Indigenous people

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to introduce another tool that could help combat the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people: a new emergency alert code.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said last Wednesday that she’s proposing a category of alert similar to the AMBER Alert—which notifies the public of possible child abductions.

According to a draft of the proposal, nearly 200,000 missing people fell outside of the parameters for AMBER Alerts and Silver alerts in 2022 alone. If adopted, the FCC would create a broader category to cover missing people who are not children, elderly, or impaired.

“We do not have a similar code in the Emergency Alert System dedicated to sounding the alarm over other missing and endangered persons, particularly the thousands of missing native and indigenous women who have disappeared from their homes never to be seen again,” she said in a statement. “Creating a new ‘Missing and Endangered Persons’ alert category can close this gap, help ensure no person who is missing and in danger is left behind, and save lives.”

The FCC initiative comes as states are increasingly eyeing new emergency alert codes to draw attention to often-overlooked populations. As Tech Brew previously reported, California in January became the first state to activate an “Ebony Alert” code to help identify and get help for missing and endangered Black youth.

California State Sen. Steven Bradford told us at the time that a more targeted alert code can help prevent at-risk individuals from slipping through the cracks of a system that marginalizes and regularly misidentifies them.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat whose state is made up of more than 10% Indigenous people, spoke out in support of the new nationwide code.

“Violence against Native people is a crisis, and far too many families and communities have suffered as a result,” he said in a statement. “I’m glad the FCC is taking necessary steps to establish an alert code for missing and endangered persons that will broadcast critical information that could save lives and prevent more harm to Native communities and Tribal Nations."

The agency plans to vote on whether to move ahead with the proposal at its March 14 public meeting, Rosenworcel said.