D.L. Hughley slams FBI for trumping Tom Brady jerseys vis-a-vis D.C. missing children

By Deborah Simmons - The Washington Times - Wednesday, March 22, 2017

OPINION:

“Damn they found #TomBradys missing super bowl Jersey? If only all those black and brown teenage girls reported missing in DC had jerseys on!”

That’s the take comic-commentator D.L. Hughley tweeted Monday morning after he learned that scores of D.C. children have gone missing this year.

And while we all know time is of the essence in missing persons cases, D.C. police are playing it smart by using social media to get the word out. It helps, too, that when children are reported missing to law enforcement since federal law requires those children’s information be entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.

Humanizing the victims and the need for urgent law enforcement action have become the driving force in the city of late. Indeed, some members of the D.C. faith-based community see it as an affront for Mayor Muriel Bowser and newly minted Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham to deny there is an uptick in missing kids. That the media played along is unfortunate as well.

So, various communities are pooling themselves and their resources to spotlight missing children cases and to humanize each victim.

Shiloh Baptist Church congregants and friends began a missing children display outside the historic church on Monday, the same day police added 3 names to its list.

On Wednesday evening, D.C. Council member Trayon White and other city leaders are scheduled to face an all-points-bulletin gathering at Excel Academy, a charter school in Southeast.

Sure, they’re interested in getting the statistical facts about missing persons cases, but they also want to know what can be done to drive the numbers down and what can be done to solve open cases.

The overwhelming majority of young D.C. victims are black and brown, and many of the very people drawing attention to these crimes suspect human trafficking for sex to be the crime.

But don’t be lulled by city leaders who gloss over the burning issues: What can be done to drive the numbers down of missing children and what can be done to solve open cases?

Sure, Mr. Hughley made an easily dismissible tweet, but we cannot ignore the fact that there is a missing children crisis in our mist — and that’s evident because we’ve been told there is not.

• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.