Ropero-Miller Jeri D, Pitts Wayne J, Imran Anum, Bell Ronny A, Smiley-McDonald Hope M
RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 301 Pharmacy Lane, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27599.
Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2024 May 31;8:100480. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2024.100480. eCollection 2024.
Death investigation on tribal lands and of American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people is complex and not well documented. An analysis of data from the 2018 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) provides a timely update on the extent of medicolegal death investigations (MDIs) on federal and state-recognized tribal lands. An estimated 150 MEC offices serve tribal lands, however, 44 % of these offices (i.e., 4 % of MEC offices) do not track cases from tribal lands separately. MEC offices with a population of 25,000 to 250,000 that serve tribal lands had more resources and access to information to perform MDIs than all other MEC offices. Analysis also indicates that the median number of unidentified human remains cases from MECs serving tribal lands is 6 times higher than that of jurisdictions not serving tribal lands. This analysis begins to elucidate gaps in the nation's understanding of MDI on tribal lands.
对部落土地上以及美洲印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民（AIAN）的死亡调查工作复杂且记录不完善。对2018年法医和验尸官办公室普查（CMEC）数据的分析，及时更新了联邦和州认可的部落土地上法医学死亡调查（MDI）的范围。估计有150个法医办公室负责部落土地，但其中44%的办公室（即所有法医办公室的4%）没有单独追踪来自部落土地的案件。服务于部落土地、人口在25000至250000之间的法医办公室，比所有其他法医办公室拥有更多资源和信息渠道来开展法医学死亡调查。分析还表明，服务于部落土地的法医办公室处理的身份不明人类遗骸案件中位数，比不服务部落土地的司法管辖区高出6倍。该分析开始揭示出美国在部落土地法医学死亡调查认知方面的差距。
