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Oklahoma Tribal leaders advocate for new FCC code to aid in MMIP crisis

KOSU | By Sarah Liese

Published May 6, 2024 at 5:10 AM CDT

If the FCC event code goes into effect, alerts will be shared through the IPAWS network, which relays alerts to radios, televisions, and cell phones.

Leaders of the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole nations are urging the FCC to establish a new event code to help locate missing and endangered adults — a crucial tool for tribal nations impacted by the MMIP crisis.

The potential code would alert the public if an adult goes missing through the IPAWS network, which sends alerts to radios, televisions, and cell phones. The leaders of the five tribes formally passed a joint resolution late last month in support of the move.

Darcie Parton-Scoon sits on the board of the State Chapter of Oklahoma MMIP. She is also a private investigator and a citizen of the Caddo Nation. She said the new code could be good, but proper implementation is key.

“I'm always holding my breath to see if the risk factors are accurately assessed during the process,” Parton-Scoon said. “So, I obviously support all of the changes and all of the laws. But then it's only as good as the application.”

Parton-Scoon said Indigenous women face a higher risk of violence and sexual assault, and that’s why these alerts could be useful. She pointed to data from the Justice Departmentthat shows four in five Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence.

Theresolution passed by the Inter-Tribal Council also highlighted the need for the code for Indian Country at large, citing a report from the National Crime Information Center that found 2.5 percent of missing persons cases in the country apply to Indigenous peoples, who make up 1.2 percent of the U.S. population.

“You never want to say that one case is more important than the other,” Parton-Scoon said. “But it's also important to understand that one person, based on their socioeconomic status, is going to be more risk than another person.”

There are 85 Native American and Alaskan Native people missing in the state of Oklahoma and 19 of an unidentified race who could also be Native, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.