President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year that established the Operation Lady Justice Task Force to directly address missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Natives in tribal communities.
Recently, the administration unveiled its plan to open seven Cold Case Task Force Offices across the country to shed some light on the crisis happening in Indian Country. One of them is in Rapid City.
Earlier this week this week the President’s daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump along with Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt were in Bloomington, Minn., to unveil the first of seven Cold Case Task Force Offices dedicated to solving missing and murdered Native Americans and Alaska Native cases.
There are more than 1,400 unresolved Native American and Alaska Native missing person cases according to the FBI.
These offices will be staffed with a variety of law enforcement personnel from the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal law enforcement, Operation Lady Justice Task Force partners and offices of the U.S. Attorneys.
The task force allows top federal officials to coordinate with Tribal governments to come up with strategies to address the crisis. These offices will collect and manage data across jurisdictions, establish multi-jurisdictional cold case teams, improve response to investigative challenges as well as define the roles, authorities and jurisdiction for those involved.
The other Cold Case Task Forces Offices will be located in Rapid City, Billings, Mont., Nashville, Tenn., Albuquerque, Phoenix and Anchorage, Alaska.