Kansas House votes to increase police training for indigenous communities

The Kansas House Tuesday tentatively approved a bill that would require training for police agencies to help address the high rates of murdered and missing indigenous people.

Indigenous people are murdered and go missing at higher rates than any other racial identity, according to a study by the Urban Indian Health Institute. Officials say the data doesn’t reflect the scope of the problem.

In 2016, National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 indigenous women went missing, but only 116 cases were reported to the US Department of Justice’s missing persons database. These discrepancies in data are common in reports of crime committed against Native American individuals nationwide.

“As Native American women, we watch other cultures celebrate and honor their women, and we just want to bring ours home,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ponka-We Victors, a Wichita Democrat and the only Native American woman in the Legislature.

The measure calls for closer collaboration between Native American tribes, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and other state agencies in an effort to raise awareness.

“This is just one small step in addressing this crisis,” said Rep. Fred Patton, a Topeka Republican.

Proponents are hopeful that educating state agencies more thoroughly will help reduce the level of crime in indigenous communities. Many lawmakers said they believed the issue had become become so severe because many people in the U.S. are unaware of it.

“I think that the light is starting to shine more,” said Rep. Eric Smith, a Burlington Republican, “and I think that anything we can do to bring that light forward is a good thing.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.