California Launches Groundbreaking Ebony Alert System To Address Disparities In Missing Black Youths

The Ebony Alert system, created to identify missing Black youths, has launched in California, with other states to follow.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 673 – Senator Steven Bradford’s “Ebony Alert” legislation – in September 2023.

The law makes California the first state to create an alert notification system addressing the crisis of missing Black children.

The technology behind broadcast and mobile alerts has been around for decades, but it’s largely failed to address a minority of the population that the signs are intended to help.

“It came about by looking at the disparities in all the data that clearly identified African Americans, making up less than 13% of the state and the nation’s population, but almost 40% of the individuals who come up missing on a regular basis,” Bradford told Tech Brew.

In 2022, the National Crime Information Center reported more than 140,000 Black children aged 17 and younger went missing for at least some period.

This accounted for about 39% of missing children in the US that year, even though the Black or African American population makes up only 12.4% of all people living in the US.

How Does Ebony Alert Work?

The California law enforcement agencies can issue an Ebony Alert when a Black person between the ages of 12 and 25 is reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.

It can also be issued if the person is at risk, developmentally disabled, cognitively impaired, or has been abducted.

Law enforcement is then asked to use digital billboards on highways and freeways to notify people and work with social media outlets and TV and radio affiliates to broadcast this information alongside a description of individuals.

“Our Black children and young women are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons… The Ebony Alert can change this,” Bradford said in a news release.

“The Ebony Alert will ensure that vital resources and attention are given so we can bring home missing Black children and women in the same way we search for any missing child and missing person.”

The Ebony Alert was recently used for the first time for a 17-year-old girl in Los Angeles.

A Step In The Right Direction

The Ebony Alert is similar to the Amber Alert, which notifies people of a possible abduction through alerts on phones, transit billboards, and other means.

There are also the Feather Alerts for missing Indigenous people and Silver Alerts for senior citizens.

According to Tech Brew, other states, such as Tennesee, are hoping to file an Ebony Alert bill before the end of January.