Bridgette Rouse visited Chicago City Hall on Wednesday for the first time in her life.
She was there to testify before the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety on the issue of missing Black women and girls. Rouse’s older sister, Sonya Rouse, went missing in March 2017, at age 50.
“My sister deserved better than what she got from the Chicago Police Department and the lead detective,” Rouse told the committee. “From the very beginning, my mother reported my sister missing, her case was grossly mishandled, lacking due diligence, compassion and follow through. … As the days rolled into years, and as I stand here before you today, I stand with trauma and pain that is unmeasurable. There is not an hour, a day, a week, that I am not cradling my mother’s tears.”
Rouse was one of several people who spoke before the committee during more than four hours of testimony in the Council chambers. The message to the committee was clear: Despite years of media attention, many in Chicago’s Black community do not believe police and city officials do enough to solve the cases of missing Black women and girls.
Rouse said she was shocked by the lack of follow-through from police, especially since her husband is a Chicago police officer. She said the department has ignored “Black cries” and purposely ignores Black women.
“I’ve come to understand that missing Black women cases, predominantly in Black districts, are handled without the same due diligence as white women in predominantly white areas. I understand the cruelty of racism carried out for decades by the city, as well as the department,” Rouse said. “Accountability is desperately needed in the city and within the department to ensure there will not be any further Black missing women.”
The seventh annual “We Walk for Her” march was held June 6 along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Among those participating this year was Kiara B., who asked that her last name not be used. The goal of the march is to bring attention to missing Black women and girls.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) was among those who had called for Wednesday’s hearing. She said when Black women do contact police, they are asked if there was a family fight or whether the person goes missing often.
“There’s never a real urgency,” Taylor said. “Too often, we’re asked to do the work of what police and detectives should be doing. That is a problem.”
CPD Commander of the Detective Bureau Jarrod Smith spoke at the hearing and was put on the hot seat more than once. He told the committee the department is enhancing its missing persons investigations by hiring new analysts and advocates, among other changes.
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th), said the city has a lot of work to do to right the wrongs of the past.
“Our young women, our daughters, our nieces, our children make up almost half of the human trafficking that’s happening right here in the city of Chicago,” Coleman said. “We as Black women, we suffer in silence, and the days of suffering in silence when acts of violence have been committed to us are no more. That’s why today is happening. … The days of silence are no more.”
WBEZ’s Michael Puente is an anchor and reporter on the Criminal Justice team. Follow him on X at @MikePuenteNews.