Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Actions to Support Law Enforcement and Maintain Public Safety in Indian Country

As part of the department’s efforts under the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety (Task Force), Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced a series of actions the department will take to support law enforcement and maintain public safety in Indian Country.

“It is paramount that tribal police have the tools they need to fight crime and maintain public safety in their communities,” said Attorney General Sessions. “Law enforcement in Indian Country faces unique practical and jurisdictional challenges and the Department of Justice is committed to working with them to provide greater access to technology, information and necessary enforcement.”

The following three actions were announced today:

    The department will deploy the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) to 10 tribal sites, beginning today with the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. This expanding program, which was first implemented in 2015 as a successful pilot program with nine tribes, is designed to provide federally-recognized tribes access to national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purposes;

    In support of the Task Force, the Office of Tribal Justice will coordinate a series of listening sessions with tribal law enforcement officials and tribal leaders to ensure the unique perspective of law enforcement in Indian Country is taken into account; and

    ​The Office of Tribal Justice has created the Indian Country Federal Law Enforcement Coordination Group, an unprecedented partnership that brings together sworn federal agents and other key law enforcement stakeholders from 12 federal law enforcement components, including: the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services and Indian Country Crimes Unit, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Office of the Inspector General; The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services; the Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. This partnership will increase collaboration and coordination with the goal of enhancing the response to violent crime in Indian country.

The Attorney General will continue to receive and act upon recommendations from the Task Force as they become available and is committed to combatting violent crime and maintaining public safety in tribal lands.