As part of a new outreach program, the Justice Department will send five attorneys and five coordinators to various regions of the country to assist with investigations of unsolved cases and related crimes.
Your coverage will span from New Mexico and Arizona to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Michigan and Minnesota.
Attorney General Merrick Garland acknowledged that the crisis has shattered the lives of the victims, their families and entire tribal communities.
“The Department of Justice will continue to accelerate our efforts, in partnership with tribes, to keep their communities safe and seek justice for Indian families,” Garland said in a statement released Wednesday.
The announcement came as a special commission convenes in Albuquerque for one of its final field hearings as it works to develop recommendations on how to improve law enforcement response and coordination within the local, state, tribal, and judicial systems. feds.
The commission began its meeting with a prayer and a moment of silence as four colorful skirts were displayed at the front of the room, honoring missing, trafficked or murdered people.
Some members of the commission read out the names of the victims, including Ashlynne Mike, an 11-year-old Navajo girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered in northwestern New Mexico in 2016.
Faced with seemingly insurmountable jurisdictional challenges, the members of the federal commission have a difficult task. Over the next three days, you will hear more heartbreaking stories from Native American families whose loved ones have disappeared or been found dead.
The goals of the 37-member commission include tracking and reporting data on missing persons cases, homicides and human trafficking and increasing information sharing with tribal governments about violent crime investigations and other prosecutions on Indian lands.
FUENTE: Associated Press
