California created the “Ebony Alert” system, an analog of the AMBER Alert system used to locate missing children, on Sunday. The system prioritizes recovering missing black children who do not qualify for an AMBER Alert.
“The AMBER Alert system must fulfill strict criteria for the message to be broadcast,” according to the enacting legislation’s factual findings. “If these criteria are not met, an AMBER Alert cannot be issued, and the child is labeled as a runaway.”
Missing children classified as “runaways” are not eligible for an AMBER Alert.
“Black missing children are disproportionately classified as ‘runaways'” compared to white children, according to the law’s factual findings.
The law’s factual findings do not specify whether the runaway classification is disproportionate to population size or some other metric, such as the rate at which different groups of children run away from home.
Conservative commentator and Libs of TikTok founder criticized the system on Twitter: “Search for ALL missing kids regardless of their race!”
“Being identified as a runaway can also be a legal loophole for law enforcement,” the factual findings continue, “because when a child is listed as a runaway, the police are allowed to delay response and investigation time.”
The law circumvents this “loophole” by creating a system without the runaway exclusion found in the AMBER Alert system.
The Ebony Alert system allows law enforcement to request an alert “if that agency determines that an Ebony Alert would be an effective tool in the investigation of missing Black youth.”
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