Minn. opens office to investigate cases of missing, murdered Black women and girls

Black women and girls are 7 percent of Minnesota’s population, yet a task group found they are 40 percent of domestic abuse victims and are nearly three times as likely to be murdered.

Minnesota lawmakers have been working diligently to create the nation’s first organization to investigate the disappearances of a disproportionately high number of Black women and girls, and the legislation they produced is now law.

Democratic state Rep. Ruth Richardson sponsored the House bill establishing the Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls, arguing that it could aid in reducing racial disparities in the state regarding violence, according to NPR News. The legislation passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law in May.

African American women and girls comprise 7 percent of Minnesota’s population, yet a task force in the state found that they account for 40 percent of victims of domestic abuse. Additionally, the group found, they are nearly three times more likely than white women and girls to be murdered.

“This is a real, true crisis,” Richardson said, according to NPR. “One of the reasons this is so important is because when we see this data that our cases are not getting solved, or cases are not getting resources, it actually puts a target on the back of Black women and girls.”

Minnesota’s office will look into cold cases and revisit situations where Black women or girls reportedly died by suicide or drug overdose if the circumstance seemed questionable. It will also help law enforcement agencies and neighborhood organizations with open cases and act as a fresh point of contact for people hesitant to talk with police.

Lakeshia Lee’s sister, Brittany Clardy, went missing and was found dead in her car’s trunk over a decade ago. Since then, Lee has served as the leader of Minnesota’s task force to support families and gain insight into the disappearances of Black women and girls.

She said the Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls could provide renewed hope to beleaguered kin of those victimized, contending the group strived toward a community intervention model supporting all families for decades, preventing the agency from having to exist indefinitely.

“We can end this epidemic,” Lee asserted.

The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association — which didn’t speak in favor of or against the legislation — said the state lacks a centralized organization that monitors these cases or acts as a resource for individuals who report them. Jeff Potts, the group’s executive leader, said he believes having an office that pulls in missing persons reports from all over the state and serves as a point of contact for worried families will be beneficial.

Suwana Kirkland, the National Association of Black Police Officers vice chair and director of a community correctional unit outside of the Twin Cities, said that the new law ensures increased state funding set aside for resolving these cases.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 19 years as an officer,” Kirkland said, NPR reported. “And as a leader, I have seen an increase in incidents of violence within our communities [involving] Black women and girls, and a decrease in resources and services and dedicated efforts and support to help solve these crimes.”

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