Following D&C reporting, Gov. Hochul approves task force on missing BIPOC women and girls

When Jakarah Lopez-Moore went missing last year, the Democrat & Chronicle worked with her family to understand the dynamics behind police cooperation.

Were authorities taking the disappearance of a missing girl of color seriously? How hard were they looking?

Did they communicate well with her mother and grandmother?

When Jakarah's body was found in the woods off Vanguard Parkway in October, over a month after she went missing from her Weld Street home, the D&C led all coverage of the tragic case. The newsroom has continued to follow the case and related questions.

After our reporting and wider media attention that followed, Gov. Kathy Hochul late last month signed a bill that had been languishing. It establishes a task force on missing women and girls who are Black, indigenous and people of color.

Rochester lawmakers who were following the stories we wrote about Jakarah and her family and our reporting about Amber Alerts had written to the governor.

Sign this task force bill, they said.

What will the missing BIPOC girl task force in NY do?

The task force will work to develop new policies and address disparities in the investigations of missing BIPOC women and girls across New York state.

USA TODAY's national investigation into missing children's cases found that missing Black children are disproportionately classified as runaways by police, resulting in less effort and resources put into their investigations. Domonique Holley-Grisham, another missing Black child from Rochester, was highlighted in this investigation.

Their findings also showed that the cases of missing Black children, specifically girls, received significantly fewer views on Facebook posts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, compared to their white counterparts.

"The significance of this task force lies in its targeted approach toward BIPOC women and girls," Sen. Brouk told us in an email. "The urgency to address this issue now stems from the glaring inadequacies in our current system, which have resulted in unacceptable numbers of open cases involving missing Black and Brown children in our community."

Out of NCMEC's 375 videos that were analyzed by USA TODAY, the average views on posts for missing white girls was over 63,000, but for missing black girls, it was 38,300.

Local response in Rochester to Jakarah's death

The news of Jakarah's death sent shockwaves throughout the Rochester community. Local lawmakers and advocates sent a letter to Hochul demanding action.

Eric Stevens from Assemblymember Sarah Clark's office said: "We're not the sponsor of the bill, but for our local involvement (and the push for Hochul to sign the law), Jakarah's case was definitely a major factor."

The Missing BIPOC Women and Girls Task Force, which was funded through next year's budget, will consist of nine representatives from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the New York State Police, the State Office of Family and Children's Services and members appointed by the Senate and Assembly.

A previous version of this task force was introduced in 2022, but it didn't pass the House or Senate.

"As a former news reporter, I am acutely aware of how cases of missing girls and women of color are often not prioritized by police or the media," said Democrat Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart said when we reached out to her. "We need to look at a systems-level approach to how we can utilize all available resources to bring family members back home safely."

This task force will be required to submit a report of its findings and recommendations within the next two years.

— D&C coverage of Jakarah's case has involved Victoria Freile, Tina MacIntyre-Yee, Scott and others.

— Madison Scott is a college journalist who is an intern with the Democrat and Chronicle. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@gannett.com. Tell her if you have a good history book recommendation, especially about the Rochester region.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Missing persons: NY task force to review disparities in investigations