(TheConservativeNews.org) – In Montana, a state with one of the highest Native American populations in the country, the disappearance of Native people is a growing problem. Some indigenous communities have complained that law enforcement agencies don’t take missing person reports seriously enough, and are calling for greater urgency around these cases.
On Thursday, April 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new measure that aims to combat this trend. In an effort to coordinate the approaches of federal bodies, county police, and tribal law enforcement, the DOJ has unveiled a plan to deploy federal resources in cases where Native people go missing on tribal land in Montana.
Generally, federal policing resources in missing persons cases only become available once it’s clear a crime has led to the disappearance. This change will hopefully make for quicker responses when disappearances like these happen in the future.
This new system will not apply to cases in which Native people go missing on non-tribal land. However, it marks a definite step in the right direction toward managing this problem.
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