Prairie State Wire

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force met Sept. 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the task force:

Task Force Member Attendance	WebEx	Absent
Verda Bhatti, Between Friends		x
State Representative Kambium Buckner	x
Margaret Duval, Ascend Justice		x
Jennifer Greene, Life Span	x
Representative Jackie Haas		x
Adebola Hassan, MCH Division Chief	x
Senator Mattie Hunter	x
Major Abigail Keller, Illinois State Police	x
Thomas Lemmer, Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police	x
Senator Seth Lewis		x
Rebeca Perrone,Cook County Medical Examiner		x
Amanda Pyron, The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence		x
Mandy Sark, Chicago Missing Person’s Guild	x
Teresa Smith		x
Scheherazade Tillet, A Long Walk Home		x
Cristina Villarreal, Planned Parenthood of Illinois		x
Diane Walsh, Office of the Chief Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County		x
Carrie Ward, Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault	x

Also present were: 

Angela McLemore, Executive Assistant, Senator Hunter’s Office

Dulana Reese, Chief of Staff, Representative Kam Buckner’s Office

Eva Shonuga, Staff Attorney, Office of Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton

ICJIA Staff Present:

Delrice Adams, Director

Kimberly Atkins, Strategic Projects Administrator

Alda Leavy-Skinner, Strategic Projects

Administrator

Vanessa Morris, Authority Administrative Assistant

Dawn English, Associate General Counsel

Kristina Dion, General Counsel

Amanda Vasquez, Research Manager

Yolanda Butler, CMS - OGC Clerk

Erinne Smith, Research Scientist

Kevin Pedraza, Research Scientist

Karen Galbraith, Project Coordinator

Minutes by: Karen Galbraith, ICJIA Project Coordinator

I. CALL TO ORDER/ OPENING REMARKS 

• Chairperson/ Senator Mattie Hunter called the meeting to order at 12:35 P.M. 

II. ROLL CALL 

• Kimberly Atkins, ICJIA Strategic Projects Administrator, took roll and announced quorum was not reached.

• After an additional member joined (Mandy Sark, at 12:45 pm), Kimberly Atkins took roll again and announced that quorum had been reached.

III. OLD BUSINESS 

• Approval of the Minutes from July 22, 2024 

• Kimberly Atkins, ICJIA Strategic Projects Coordinator, announced that approval of the minutes would be postponed until quorum was reached.

• Once more members joined the meeting, Kimberly Atkins called the roll and announced that quorum had been reached.

• Representative Kam Buckner requested a motion to approve the minutes from the July 22, 2024, meeting.

• Motion: Made by Carrie Ward to approve the minutes

• Motion Second: Jennifer Greene

• Vote taken by Kimberly Atkins: All Ayes. No Nays. No

Abstentions.

IV.NEW BUSINESS 

• Report Overview Presentation and Discussion 

• Chairperson Senator Mattie Hunter introduced Amanda Vasquez, Research Manager, ICJIA’s Center for Victim Studies. Amanda Vasquez explained that the framework for the report was derived from a review of meeting minutes, task force presentations, and discussions. Her presentation provided overview of the proposed content for the annual report and members were invited to provide input. The report sections were described as follows with Members’ comments and suggestions bolded.

1. Introduction 

Need for task force

• Significant number of missing and murdered women in Illinois

• Potential lack of support from law enforcement to victim's loved ones Purpose/goal

• Provide findings and recommendations to reduce violence against women and girls

Task force composition and organization 

Membership

• Legislative members, law enforcement, agencies/organization serving victims Meeting structure

• Meeting frequency varied

• Mix of hybrid and virtual

• Consists of speaker and discussion sessions

Priority Areas 

• Systemic causes

• Appropriate methods of tracking and collecting data

• Policies and institutions that impact violence and the investigation and prosecution of crimes

• Measures necessary to address and reduce violence

• Measures to help victims, families, and communities heal from violence

2. Findings 

Systemic causes

• Structural

• Racism

• Extreme poverty

• Redlining

• Violence

• Human trafficking

• Intimate partner violence

• Child abuse/family violence

• Gun violence

• Suicide

• Other factors

• Substance use

• Law enforcement indifference and dismissal of runaway cases

• Members’ Comments: 

• Jennifer Greene suggested the addition of sexual assault within the “violence” category, noting that many missing and murdered women have also experienced sexual violence.

• Carrie Ward agreed and proposed that law enforcement’s dismissal of these reports/cases warrants its own category, as it has been a common theme that has great impact in these cases. 

• Angela McLemore suggested highlighting the role money/financial systems play in perpetuating human trafficking. Senator Hunter concurred, and Jennifer Greene noted the financial implications of sex work and impacts on women, girls, and trans people, as well. 

• Mandy Sark spoke to the importance of screening tools and inclusion of people with different gender identities. 

• Jennifer Greene reminded members of the Human Trafficking Task Force and the ways their work is different from the MMCWG Task Force. Jennifer volunteered to present to the task force on the intersections, similarities, and differences of human trafficking and missing and murdered women and girls. 

Appropriate methods of tracking and collecting data

• Procedures

• Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer takes complaint and notifies detectives

• Missing person reports entered into Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and shared with National Crime Information Center

• National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs): System for law enforcement and the public to enter missing persons information

• Barriers

• Accuracy and completeness of CPD data

• Cook County Medical Examiner does not differentiate between White and Hispanic

• Members’ Comments: 

• Angela McLemore and Senator Hunter expressed concern about how different racial and ethnic groups are categorized across databases and the impact on data. 

• Mandy Sark questioned how/if children/minors are entered into NamUs, as it is her understanding that they are entered into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database, underscoring data challenges. 

• Major Keller noted that law enforcement does a good job of entering data regarding missing persons, trafficking, other violent crimes, and murder cases, but data regarding people who are found - and why they were missing or a victim of violence to begin with - is less complete. 

Policies and institutions that impact violence and the investigation and prosecution of crimes

• Policies and procedures

• Illinois Missing Person Identification Act

• Law enforcement agencies operate under different rules and regulations • Barriers

• Limited resources for victims and families

• Biases towards victim

• Law enforcement not required to enter reports into NamUs

• Delayed law enforcement response and lack of case closure procedures Measures necessary to address and reduce violence

• Dedicated missing persons unit

• High quality and complete missing persons data

• Compliance with legislation and procedures regarding missing persons investigations

• Funding for community and family-led missing persons searches

• Trainings for systems professionals to address bias

Measures to help victims, families, and communities heal from violence

• More communication and transparency from law enforcement in missing persons investigations

• Individuals with lived experience should be actively involved

Members’ Comments: 

• Major Abigail Keller suggested including law enforcement training on relevant statutes and requirements within this section. 

• Mandy Sark agreed and added that education for families about forensic services and other programs available to them would be helpful. 

• Senator Hunter voiced support for a dedicated missing persons unit. • Major Abigail Keller proposed additional research to better understand the root causes of these issues, individual and community factors, and scope of related problems (such as missing persons, domestic violence cases, and trafficking reports) in Chicago and Illinois, and state of community resources, including strengths and needs. 

• Jennifer Greene noted that it will be important to separate out the information on women who have gone missing and have been murdered from women who have gone missing and been murdered due to trafficking, DV, and other intersecting forms of violence. It is important to parse out the differences. 

• Mandy Sark pointed out that a number of states have 911 texting capabilities which has been helpful, particularly in DV cases. Additionally, she proposed additional training on youth and adult mental health first aid for law enforcement and other people who work with youth/adults at high risk. Mandy underscored the importance of electronic data keeping by law enforcement and noted the importance of adequate funding and staffing to support it. 

• Senator Hunter proposed public awareness campaigns to help educate the public as a means to increase identification and promote resources. 

3. Recommendations 

• Increase legislative support and funding for missing persons investigations • Create dedicated missing persons unit

• Enforce current data entry reporting requirements

• Amend Missing Person Identification Act to clarify LEADs and NamUs reporting requirements

• Establish written protocols for missing persons case review and follow up Members’ Comments: 

• Angela McLemore supported Senator Hunter’s idea of increased public education/awareness campaigns, proposing it as an additional recommendation. • Jennifer Greene indicated a recommendation for additional funding might be needed, particularly for social service providers. 

• Mandy Sark recommended including medical examiner report data to explore any trends or patterns that would be helpful to law enforcement. She also proposed that the Illinois State Missing Person’s website needs to be updated and only focuses on adults, noting the need for additional funding and staffing.

4. Conclusion 

• Report satisfied statutory obligation

• Task force next steps

5. References 

• Academic literature

• Local and state reports

6. Appendix (optional) 

Member Comments: 

There were no additional comments for the conclusion, reference, or appendix sections of the report. 

• Cancellation of FBI Presentation: Senator Mattie Hunter informed members that the presenters from the FBI had to cancel at the last minute and another presenter was not able to be scheduled on such short notice.

• Next Meeting: Representative Buckner reminded members that the next Task Force meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 12:30 -2:00pm, on Webex.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT 

• Representative Buckner opened the floor to members of the public. No public comment was offered.

VI. ADJOURNMENT 

• Representative Buckner requested a motion to adjourn.

Motion: To adjourn the meeting was made by Carrie Ward.

Seconded By: Major Abigail Keller

Vote Taken by Kimberly Atkins: All Ayes. No Nays. No abstentions.

https://agency.icjia-api.cloud/uploads/MMCWTF_Minutes_09_23_24_DRAFT_0fef36513d.pdf