MMIP

"The disappearance of Ashley Loring HeavyRunner on the Blackfeet Reservation has spurred more questions than answers about crimes against Indigenous women, human trafficking the number of Native Americans that go missing each year. Local citizens have taken action to prevent future investigations from being compromised. This means creating a task force of concerned citizens, local law enforcement, state & federal agencies that have the resources to follow up on leads and preserve evidence found in a timely and professional manner. We know the healing from systemic violence, substance abuse and historical trauma will not be cured overnight, but the infrastructure to protect our people is being built. With the help of the Blackfeet Community College, local law enforcement, and the Montana Department of Justice this site will be a reporting hub for Missing and murdered Native American in Montana. Our efforts start with a reporting portal for the Blackfeet nation..." -MMIP

Here’s some very real, very sad statistics.

84% of Indigenous women have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence in their lifetime. Native Americans are 4 times more likely to go missing in Montana than anyone else. We have 8 reservations in this state. When the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Task Force asked around, they found there are all kinds of barriers that prevent people from even filing the police reports. A grandmother may have a grandson that goes missing. But that son is a meth-head and his disappearance is likely crime-related and that grandson will end up in jail if he’s found. But at the end of the day, he’s a person. He’s someone’s family. He deserves to be found even if he’s a criminal, right?

Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana created a tool a while back that acted as a police reporting tool for missing persons. Dillon Software entered the game about 8 months ago to expand that tool by automating the reporting process with a few key new features. My job was to design the UI for this site and create the most intuitive experience possible.

Native News Online wrote a story on MMIP you can read here, and of course you can visit the live site as well.

UX/UI design