Duluth Police Chief Testifies For ‘Statewide Missing And Murdered Indigenous Fund’

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Duluth’s newly created Missing and Murdered Indigenous Fund is gaining attention as the state capitol.

Members of the Minnesota House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee met Thursday to hear testimony from members involved with the fund, including Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken.

The bill would create a reward fund to help get information and vital evidence involving missing and murdered indigenous relatives. According to a state report, there are as many as 54 Indigenous people missing on any given day.

Chief Tusken says having a designated fund can help police departments quickly incentivize people to come forward sooner than later.

“We know that in Duluth our indigenous communities are six times more likely to be victims of crime. We know that that’s not just a trend in Duluth, that’s a trend that’s not only across our state, but nation wide. This bill will be incredibly helpful for us to have the resources to use to bring people forward who may be scared, who may need a little influence to come forward and share their information,” Chief Mike Tusken says.

The bill would establish a reward advisory group to make recommendations for payment of those rewards. The bill appropriates $110 thousand to the fund for the 2023 fiscal year.