LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas lawmaker wants to make it easier for reports of missing indigenous people to be shared among law enforcement.
Assemblywoman Shea Backus (D), who represents District 37, introduced Assembly Bill 125. She's hoping it will lead to more success in finding missing indigenous people.
The bill would require all law enforcement agencies to take reports of indigenous people who go missing from a reservation.
Backus says the goal is to have the report entered into the National Crime Information Center immediately, which is key for the collaboration between federal, state, local and tribal agencies.
“It is crucial that information gets into a national database quickly, just in case if something happens, they turn up,” said Backus. “My concern is human trafficking. We know there's a lot of human trafficking that comes to our bigger cities.”
While the Paiute Tribe has its own police department, not all tribes in Nevada have their own law enforcement agencies.
Some of the 20 federally recognized tribes in Nevada strictly rely on the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Bureau of Indian Affairs to report missing people. Backus says the BIA has one agent designated to address missing and murdered people across three different states- including Nevada.
AB125 would also require officers to be trained on how to take a report that may not be in their jurisdiction and how to respect the sovereignty of local tribes.
Representatives for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, The Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association, and Washoe County Sheriff's Office all opposed the bill as written at a hearing in Carson City.
Opponents said they support the idea of timely reports being taken, but there are technical reporting concerns regarding local compliance with federal law and tribal sovereignty.
