Bridgette Rouse told the Chicago City Council Public Safety Committee during a hearing Wednesday that the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) lack of response to her sister Sonya Rouse’s 2016 disappearance makes it clear to her and her family that Black women who go missing in Chicago are “purposefully ignored.”
“I understand my sister Sonya’s missing [persons] report . . . will not be treated the same,” Bridgette Rouse continued, saying it felt like her sister’s file had been stamped with the letters “CW” (colored woman).
Rouse was not the only one to point to CPD shortcomings when it comes to missing persons investigations. Community leaders decried a lack of response after decades of activism, and journalists pointed to investigations that showed a lack of follow-up rough by detectives.
- A coalition of Black women alders led by Jeanette Taylor (20) and Stephanie Coleman (16), along with Mayor Brandon Johnson, pushed for the hearing. The resolution that called for the hearing cited the seven part investigation “Missing in Chicago.
