Feds detail work to address crisis of missing Native people

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has hired 11 specialized co-ordinators to help develop national standards to address the crisis of missing and slain Native American women as concerns mount over the level of violence they face.

The Trump administration released a report Thursday outlining the work of a task force created under an executive order. The group, which has met with tribal leaders, helped set the groundwork for the standards that will apply to new and unsolved cases of missing or murdered people in Native American communities.

The work is expected to continue for about another year.

The common standards include improving the way law enforcement officials and prosecutors “respond to the high volume of such cases, and to the investigative challenges that might be presented in cases involving female victims,” according to the report.

The task force also has focused on examining data shared among law enforcement agencies and worked with tribal leaders and tribal law enforcement officials to better use federal databases.

“This is not a one size fits all,” said Assistant Attorney General Katie Sullivan, a task force leader. But the emphasis has been “on supporting the victims of crime, in every step of the way,” she said.

The task force is establishing a framework to help connect local and federal law enforcement officials and clear up any jurisdictional issues that could arise in the cases. In some of the sessions, the task force heard “heart-wrenching stories of people have unsolved cases,” Sullivan said.

The co-ordinators were hired under an initiative announced by Attorney General William Barr during a trip to Montana last year. They are helping develop ways for the Justice Department to address reports of missing indigenous and Native people and improve relationships with tribal leaders and federal prosecutors.

Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press