SB 673: Emergency notification: Ebony Alert: missing Black youth.

The California Emergency Services Act, among other things, establishes the Office of Emergency Services for the purpose of mitigating the effects of natural, man-made, or war-caused emergencies and makes findings and declarations relating to ensuring that preparation within the state will be adequate to deal with those emergencies. Existing law authorizes a law enforcement agency to request the Department of California Highway Patrol to activate the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate area if that agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability, has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there is information available that, if disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of that person. Existing law also authorizes the issuance and coordination of a Silver Alert relating to a person who is 65 years of age or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired who is reported missing, and a Feather Alert relating to an endangered indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.

This bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate an Ebony Alert, with respect to Black youth, including young women and girls, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, at risk, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted. The bill would authorize the department to activate an Ebony Alert within the appropriate geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency and to assist the agency by disseminating specified alert messages and signs, if the department concurs with the agency that an Ebony Alert would be an effective tool in the investigation of a missing person according to specified factors. The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.