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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THAT THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROVE SB3948, AN AMENDMENT TO THE MISSING PERSONS IDENTIFICATION ACT
WHEREAS, each year, over 600,000 individuals go missing in the United States; and, while many missing children and adults are quickly found alive and well, tens of thousands of individuals remain missing for more than a year - what many agencies consider “cold cases”. On any given day in the United States, there are approximately 90,000 active missing person cases in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC); and
WHEREAS, regardless of the reason for the disappearance, family and friends of the missing person experience trauma that motivates them to determine what has happened to a missing loved one; and
WHEREAS, among many tools utilized by law enforcement agencies during investigations, the collection of DNA or biological samples from two or more close biological relatives of the missing person helps with searching against the profiles of unidentified persons and remains in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS); and
WHEREAS, managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CODIS is the FBI’s program of support for criminal justice DNA databases, as well as the software used to run these databases. CODIS operates on three levels: The Local DNA Index System (LDIS), which is used by city and county laboratories, the State DNA Index System (SDIS) where profiles from laboratories across the State can be compared, and the National DNA Index System (NDIS), where profiles from laboratories across the country can be compared; and
WHEREAS; the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, is the national information clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases throughout the United States. Administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), an agency of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the NamUs program brings people, information, forensic science, and technology together to help resolve missing and unidentified person cases across the country; and
WHEREAS, Illinois Senate Bill 3948 (“SB3948”) is a legislative initiative of the Cook County Sheriff, Thomas J. Dart, recently introduced by Senator Michael E. Hastings during the 103rd General Assembly, that amends the Missing Persons Identification Act and seeks to streamline processes in the investigation of missing and unidentified persons. Amongst other changes, the bill removes a time constraining provision to allow a law enforcement agency to attempt to obtain a DNA sample belonging to the missing person or directly from the missing person's family members in a more efficient manner; and
WHEREAS, SB3948 requires, rather than allows, follow up action by law enforcement to collect additional information, such as fingerprints and biological samples, to find the missing person; and
WHEREAS, SB3948 provides that a law enforcement agency may not observe any waiting period before accepting a missing person report, removes provisions prohibiting refusal of acceptance of missing persons reports based on lack of personal knowledge or for any other reason, and adds provisions about multiple reports for the same missing person; and
WHEREAS, SB3948 also provides that law enforcement generate a report of the missing person within NamUs, attempt to obtain specified information and materials that have not been received, and requires the responding local law enforcement agency to enter all collected information relating to the missing person case in the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the National Crime Information Center among many other amendments that will help law enforcement and investigative agencies working on missing or unidentified person’s cases; and
WHEREAS, SB3948 expands searches for fingerprints of unidentified persons to include civil and federal databases, in hopes of also identifying persons who have no criminal history; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has a long history of prioritizing missing and unidentified person cases by ensuring best practices are utilized, including the appropriate use of forensic methods like DNA technology and databases. This started with Burr Oak in the summer of 2009 when the Sheriff’s Office investigated the desecration of hundreds of graves by cemetery employees, and in 2010, by exposing the appalling burial practices of the indigent, unclaimed, and unidentified which prevented law enforcement from locating missing persons. Since 2011, the Sheriff’s Office has identified 3 of the remaining 8 unidentified victims found in John Wayne Gacy’s crawl space while in the process also closing 11 other unrelated cold cases. In September 2021, the Sheriff’s Office launched the Missing Person Project to concentrate our efforts on locating individuals who have been missing for three or more years, particularly women, throughout the state of Illinois. So far, this project has removed 35 women from NamUs; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners recently held a public hearing of the Criminal Justice Committee to discuss and receive an update from the Public Safety and Public Health County stakeholders on the investigations of missing and murdered Black women and girls in the Chicagoland area; and
WHEREAS, the passage of SB3948 will greatly impact the current and future investigations of all missing and unidentified persons in Cook County.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby request that the Illinois General Assembly approve SB3948, thus amending the Missing Persons Identification Act as soon as possible; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby direct the Cook County Clerk to transmit a copy of this resolution to IL Senator Michael E. Hastings, sponsor of SB3948; IL Representative Emanuel Welch, Speaker of the House; IL Senator Don Harmon, President of the Senate and IL Governor JB Pritzker.
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