As the first public meeting of the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force is beginning at this hour, a new alert system related to the crisis appears to be on the verge of becoming a reality.
Both chambers of the New Mexico State Legislature unanimously approved the Turquoise Alert System, as proposed in Senate Bill 41, last month, and it’s been awaiting a signature from gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ever since.
If signed into law, New Mexico would become just the fourth state in the country to implement such a system specifically focused on locating missing Native Americans.
Michael Coleman, spokesman for Michelle Lujan Grisham, says the governor is committed to signing the bill and plans to do so next week.
On the day the Senate approved the measure two weeks ago, bill cosponsor and senator Angel Charley, from Acoma Pueblo, cited the case of an 11-year old girl who had been abducted and eventually murdered.
“ When Ashlynn Mike went missing in 2016, she was a little girl on the Navajo Nation. Her daughter was my daughter's age. She went missing in the afternoon and her Amber alert didn't go out until the next morning.
Ashlynn Mike’s death prompted a call for faster response times when indigenous people go missing.
One of the key components of the bill is to issue alerts promptly in order to more quickly raise public awareness and trigger law enforcement response.
The alerts would operate much like Amber and Silver Alerts—which were designed to locate missing children and elders .
Those systems broadcast key information through law enforcement channels, social media, news outlets, and highway signage.
The effort comes in response to longstanding concerns about the lack of timely action in cases involving Indigenous victims.
According to state officials, there are currently nearly 200 unresolved cases involving missing Native individuals in New Mexico, many of them dating back several years.
Senator Charley explained the philosophy behind the legislation during last month’s Senate chamber vote.
”By uniting law enforcement media and the public, the Turquoise Alert System amplifies urgency of these cases, making it clear: No more stolen relatives, no more silent disappearances. Safety is not just a right, it is our responsibility.”
Senate Minority leader Bill Sharer, in that session, raised concerns about the fatigue factor that he said has limited the usefulness of Amber Alerts. But Sharer, like all of his legislative colleagues, voted to approve the measure.
