Missing or Murdered Native American Women Task Force.

Existing law establishes the Rural Indian Crime Prevention Program, a program of financial and technical assistance for local law enforcement, within the Office of Emergency Services. Existing law establishes the Rural Indian and Law Enforcement Local Advisory Committee, composed of specified members, including one Native American law enforcement officer, and requires the Director of Emergency Services to provide staff services to the advisory committee. Existing law requires the director, in consultation with the advisory committee, to develop guidelines and procedures for the selection of projects to be funded by the program. This bill would create the Missing or Murdered Native American Women Task Force in the Department of Justice, and would provide for the membership of that task force. The bill would require the task force to complete a formal consultation with California's Native American tribes on how to improve tribal access to databases, to develop recommendations on how to increase state resources for reporting and identifying missing and murdered Native American persons in the state, and to develop a database of nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations that provide aid or support in locating missing Native American persons. The bill would require the task force to submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, detailing improvements to tribal database access, interjurisdictional coordination, and law enforcement resource allocation for cases of missing or murdered Native American persons. The bill would additionally require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, in consultation with the task force, to prepare and distribute to law enforcement agencies in the state guidelines and uniform procedures for the reporting and investigation of missing and murdered Native American persons, and would require the Department of Justice to employ a missing Native American persons specialist responsible for building relationships to increase trust between governmental organizations and native communities.