WHEREAS, In 2016, 5,712 missing and murdered indigenous cases were reported to the National Crime Information Center; and

WHEREAS, According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the third leading cause of death for indigenous women between the ages of 15 and 24; and

WHEREAS, According to a study entitled “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What is Known,” conducted on behalf of the United States Department of Justice, in some tribal communities, indigenous women face murder rates 10 times higher than the national average. No such study exists for urban areas; and

WHEREAS, Little data exists on the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people, and data that is available is incomplete and inadequate; and

WHEREAS, The data that does exist on this issue focuses primarily on indigenous women living on reservations, despite approximately 75 percent of native people living in urban cities; and

WHEREAS, According to the first report conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute in 2018 on missing and murdered indigenous women in urban cities:

(1) In 27 percent of the missing and murdered indigenous women cases, the victims were 18 years of age or younger.

(2) The average age for missing and murdered indigenous women was 29.

(3) California has the sixth highest death rate of indigenous women in urban cities; and

WHEREAS, According to the most recent census data, California has the largest population of American Indians, more than any other state in the country; and

WHEREAS, In 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 1314, the Feather Alert, which is a preventative measure that will be utilized to reunify missing and endangered indigenous person to their homes; now, therefore, be it