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The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force held its fourth meeting on Friday, February 21^st, 2020 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The meeting featured presentations by the New Mexico Human Trafficking Task Force and Regina Chacon from the Department of Public Safety’s Law Enforcement Records Bureau. The task force also held a panel discussion with law enforcement agencies to better understand how justice systems are recording and responding to missing persons cases. Public attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and connect with presenters and panelists during a networking lunch. The meeting ended with a public forum. Public attendees shared their input and feedback regarding the scope of the MMIW crisis, barriers to addressing the issue, and recommendations to improve law enforcements process for identifying and investigating MMIW cases. The ideas shared include, but are not limited to:

• DPS to work with tribal law enforcement and communities to improve the Missing Persons Clearinghouse Report Form to better identify MMIW cases.
• Task Force to involve and work with indigenous youth in order to reflect their voices in the final report.
• Law enforcement to better engage and involve community members with missing persons alert systems and protocols, such as community involved search teams.
• The value of anti-oppression, cultural competency, and MMIW sensitivity training for law enforcement officers.

Next Steps

Out of respect for the health and safety of our community and relatives, the MMIW in-person meeting for March is cancelled. However, the task force is working on logistics to host a webinar. More details to come.

If you would like to be notified about future task force meetings and activities email Kalee Salazar at [email protected].

Get Involved  

The task force is also looking to work in partnership with victim services professionals, advocates, prevention specialists, and grassroots-led efforts to better understand the scope of the MMIW crisis, identify barriers to addressing the crisis, and develop recommendations. Partners will participate in future task force meetings and subcommittee calls to provide additional expertise, and assist with data gathering activities to help with meeting the goals identified in the legislation and drafting the final report. If you are interested and able to commit to working with the task force then RSVP for our upcoming Stakeholder Webinar on March 17^th, 2020 at 2:00pm MST. Click here to RSVP.

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