Feds detail work to address crisis of missing Indigenous people

The Trump administration released a report this week outlining the work of a task force created under an executive order. The group, which has met with tribal leaders, helped set the groundwork for the standards that will apply to new and unsolved cases of missing or murdered people in Native American communities.

The work is expected to continue for about another year.

The common standards include improving the way law enforcement officials and prosecutors “respond to the high volume of such cases, and to the investigative challenges that might be presented in cases involving female victims,” according to the report.

The task force also has focused on examining data shared among law enforcement agencies and worked with tribal leaders and tribal law enforcement officials to better use federal databases.