Department of Justice Expands Tribal Access Program to
Additional 25 Tribes This Year, Department of Interior Funds the Expansion of
DOJ Tribal Access Program at 31 BIA Social Services and Law Enforcement
Locations by 2020
The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior
announced a dramatic expansion of the federal government’s key program that
provides tribes with access to national crime information databases, the
Justice Department’s Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP).
By the end of 2019, the Justice Department will expand the
number of TAP participating tribes by more than 50 percent—from 47 tribes to
72. The Department of the Interior (DOI)
will fund the instillation of TAP Kiosks at three locations where the BIA-Office
of Indian Services (BIA-OIS) deliver direct service social services by the end
of 2019 and DOI aims to expand TAP access at all 28 BIA-Office of Justice
Services (BIA-OJS) operated law enforcement agencies and detention service
centers. These BIA locations will
provide some degree of access to TAP for services delivered to more than 50
tribal communities that currently do not have any direct access.
“For far too long, a lack of access to federal criminal
databases has hurt tribal law enforcement—preventing them from doing their jobs
and keeping their communities safe,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein. “With the Tribal Access
Program, participating tribes will be able to protect victims of domestic violence,
register sex offenders, keep guns out of dangerous hands, and help locate
missing people. This milestone
demonstrates our deep commitment to strengthening public safety in Indian
country.”
“I am proud to authorize the funding for the expansion of
the Tribal Access Program to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make the future of
justice in Indian Country stronger,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian
Affairs Tara Sweeney at the 75th National Congress of American Indians
Convention today. “The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proud to grant greater
access to these important databases at more locations throughout Indian
Country. Performing background checks is a critical step in protecting our
precious Native children in foster care, and tribal communities served by the
BIA will benefit from access to this extensive public safety tool.”
“Access to information is vital to effective law
enforcement,” said Trent Shores, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of
Oklahoma and the Chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Subcommittee on
Native American Issues. “The Tribal
Access Program will enhance and improve the ability of tribal law enforcement
officers to serve their communities. The Native American Issues Subcommittee is
proud to support the continued expansion of this tool throughout Indian Country.
The Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS) is comprised
of United States Attorneys with Indian Country in their federal districts. They
advise the Attorney General regarding the development and implementation of
policies pertaining to justice in Indian Country. The NAIS identified
‘increased law enforcement resources’ as one of four priority areas to improve
justice services in Indian Country. Support for and increased dissemination of
the TAP was unanimously supported by the US Attorneys at a recent NAIS meeting
in Indian Country in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“We at the BIA-OJS look forward to having direct access to
these vital resources,” said Deputy BIA Director for Office of Justice Services
Charles Addington. “We have waited years for the opportunity to streamline how
we access these critical databases and the funding authorized by AS-IA Sweeney
will allow our law enforcement officers
the ability to receive the information they need to do their jobs effectively and
keep them safe.”
TAP, offered in two versions, TAP-FULL and TAP-LIGHT, allows
tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by fostering the
exchange of critical data through several national databases through the FBI’s
Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) network, including the National
Crime Information Center (NCIC), Next Generation Identification (NGI), National
Data Exchange (N-DEx), National Instant Criminal Background Check System
(NICS), Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP) as well as other national
systems such as the International Justice and Public Safety Network
(Nlets). TAP enhances tribal efforts to
register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and
Notification Act (SORNA); have orders of protection enforced nationwide;
protect children; keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from
receiving them; improve the safety of public housing, and allow tribes to enter
their arrests and convictions into national databases.
TAP-FULL consists of a kiosk workstation that provide access
to national systems and is capable of processing finger and palm prints, as
well as taking mugshots and submitting records to national databases. TAP-LIGHT
is software for criminal agencies that include police departments, prosecutors,
criminal courts, jails, and probation departments. Both versions provide
federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with
national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purpose. TAP is currently available to 47 tribes
nationwide with over 220 tribal criminal justice and civil agencies
participating.
For more information on TAP, including a list and map of
present TAP-FULL and TAP-LIGHT tribes, visit
www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on
tribal justice and public safety issues, visit:
www.justice.gov/tribal
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