Native American Police Tackle Missing Persons Crisis
Native American police, facing a lack of resources and jurisdictional challenges, are taking matters into their own hands to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and relatives (MMIWR). Many tribes lack the funds and staff to prioritize missing cases, leading some Native American police to form their own missing units. Factors such as poverty and a history of colonial oppression make Native American people disproportionately at risk of going missing. Improved coordination between federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies is needed to address the estimated 4,200 unsolved indigenous cases.