The Ebony Alert, designed to address the disproportionate disappearances of Black youth, faces ongoing hurdles in its first year of operation.
La’Tannya Banks is still grappling with the harrowing disappearance of her 15-year-old daughter, Lelah, who vanished from their Los Angeles apartment in July. For nearly two days, Banks worked tirelessly to locate her only child, fearing the worst. “I thought she’d been abducted,” said Banks. “I immediately started freaking out.”
During those 37 agonizing hours, Banks contacted every hospital in the area and visited local hotels to show Lelah’s photo. She also reached out to friends, family, and youth advocates for help. However, when she turned to the Los Angeles Police Department for assistance, Banks found little urgency. She was told that her daughter’s case didn’t meet the criteria for an Amber Alert, and it took over 24 hours before she was even able to file a police report.
“I told them that the 48 hours are critical for missing people,” said Banks, who has previous experience working with a medical examiner’s office. Banks claims that she was often ignored, with her repeated calls and emails being passed from officer to officer without resolution.
The incident highlights the systemic challenges that persist in addressing the disproportionate number of missing Black youth. Advocates argue that California’s new Ebony Alert system, which was introduced to specifically address these cases, is essential for helping law enforcement more effectively locate and investigate missing Black children.
Despite the introduction of the Ebony Alert, which went into effect a year ago, critics say the system still has many hurdles to overcome. They argue that more work is needed to ensure that the system functions as intended, providing timely responses and addressing the unique challenges faced by Black families when a child goes missing.
In the case of Lelah Banks, the good news is that she was eventually found safely after the Ebony Alert was issued in July. However, for many other families, the struggles with police responses and slow investigations continue to highlight the need for improvements to the system designed to protect missing Black youth.