2023 California Code › Government Code - GOV › TITLE 2 - GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA › DIVISION 1 - GENERAL › CHAPTER 7 - California Emergency Services Act › ARTICLE 6.5 - Accessibility to Emergency Information and Services › Section 8594.14.

8594.14. (a) For purposes of this section, “Ebony Alert” means a notification system, activated pursuant to subdivision (b), designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to Black youth, including young women and girls, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, at risk, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted.
(b) (1) If a person is reported missing to a law enforcement agency and that agency determines that the requirements of subdivision (c) are met, the law enforcement agency may request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate an Ebony Alert. If the Department of the California Highway Patrol concurs that the requirements of subdivision (c) have been met, it may activate an Ebony Alert within the appropriate geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency.
(2) Radio, television, cable, satellite, and social media systems are encouraged to, but not required to, cooperate with disseminating the information contained in an Ebony Alert.
(3) Upon activation of an Ebony Alert, the Department of the California Highway Patrol may assist the investigating law enforcement agency by issuing a be-on-the-lookout alert, an electronic flyer, or changeable message signs in compliance with paragraph (4).
(4) Upon activation of an Ebony Alert, the Department of the California Highway Patrol may use a changeable message sign if both of the following conditions are met:
(A) A law enforcement agency determines that a vehicle may be involved in the missing person incident.
(B) Specific identifying information about the vehicle is available for public dissemination.
(c) A law enforcement agency may request that an Ebony Alert be activated if that agency determines that an Ebony Alert would be an effective tool in the investigation of missing Black youth, including a young woman or girl. The law enforcement agency may consider the following factors to make that determination:
(1) The missing person is between 12 to 25 years of age, inclusive.
(2) The missing person suffers from a mental or physical disability.
(3) The person is missing under circumstances that indicate any of the following:
(A) The missing person’s physical safety may be endangered.
(B) The missing person may be subject to trafficking.
(4) The law enforcement agency determines that the person has gone missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.
(5) The law enforcement agency believes that the person is in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, or environment or weather conditions, that the person is in the company of a potentially dangerous person, or that there are other factors indicating that the person may be in peril.
(6) The investigating law enforcement agency has utilized available local resources.
(7) There is information available that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing person.
(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 627, Sec. 2. (SB 673) Effective January 1, 2024.)