Department of Justice Tribal Access Program (TAP) Will
Improve the Exchange of Critical Data
Department of the Interior Companion Program to Provide
Name-Based Emergency Background Checks for Child Placement
The Department of Justice is launching an initial phase of
the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) to provide
federally-recognized tribes access to national crime information databases for
both civil and criminal purposes. TAP
will allow tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by
ensuring the exchange of critical data.
This initial phase of TAP was announced today in a meeting
with tribes held during the 2015 Department of Justice/FBI Criminal Justice
Information Services (CJIS) Division Tribal Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Federal criminal databases hold critical information that
can solve crimes, and keep police officers and communities safe,” said Deputy
Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates.
“The Tribal Access Program is a step forward to providing tribes the
access they need to protect their communities, keep guns from falling into the
wrong hands, assist victims and prevent domestic and sexual violence. Empowering tribal law enforcement with
information strengthens public safety and is a key element in our ongoing
strategy to build safe and healthy communities in Indian country. ”
“The FBI is pleased to participate in this initiative,” said
Executive Assistant Director Amy Hess of the FBI’s Science and Technology
Branch. “This will be a positive step
for the tribal agencies to receive valuable criminal information and also for
those same tribal agencies to submit criminal information at the national
level. Through this partnership,
information becomes richer and communities can become safer.”
TAP will support tribes in analyzing their needs for
national crime information and help provide appropriate solutions, including
a-state-of-the-art biometric/biographic computer workstation with capabilities
to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national
databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and civil
purposes through the Department of Justice.
TAP will also provide specialized training and assistance for
participating tribes.
While in the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 Congress
required the Attorney General to ensure that tribal officials that meet
applicable requirements be permitted access to national crime information
databases, the ability of tribes to fully participate in national criminal
justice information sharing via state networks has been dependent upon various
regulations, statutes and policies of the states in which a tribe’s land is
located. Therefore, improving access for
tribal law enforcement to federal criminal information databases has been a
departmental focus for several years. In
2010, the department instituted two pilot projects, one biometric and one
biographic, to improve informational access for tribes. The biographic pilot continues to serve more
than 20 tribal law enforcement agencies.
Departments of Justice and Interior Working Group
In 2014, the Departments of Justice and the Interior (DOI)
formed a working group to assess the impact of the pilots and identify
long-term sustainable solutions that address both criminal and civil needs of
tribes. The outcome of this
collaboration was the TAP, as well as an additional program announced today by
the DOI’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that provides tribes with national crime
information prior to making child placement decisions in emergency
circumstances. Under the BIA program,
social service agencies of federally recognized tribes will be able to view
criminal history information accessed
through BIA’s Office of Justice Services who will conduct name-based checks in
situations where parents are unable to care for their children.
“Giving tribal government programs access to national crime
databases through DOJ’s Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information is
a tremendous step forward towards increasing public safety in Indian Country,”
said Assistant Secretary Kevin K. Washburn for Indian Affairs at the Department
of the Interior. “The Bureau of Indian
Affairs Office of Justice Services’ Purpose Code X program provides a
much-needed tool for tribal social service agencies when they must find safe
homes to place children during temporary emergency situations.”
In the initial phase of the TAP program, the
biometric/biographic workstations will be deployed to up to 10
federally-recognized tribes who will provide user feedback. This phase will focus on assisting tribes
that have law enforcement agencies, while in the future the department will
seek to address needs of the remaining tribes and find a long-term solution. The department will continue to work with
Congress for additional funding to more broadly deploy the program.
The Department of Justice’s Chief Information Officer
manages TAP.
“It is our hope that TAP can minimize the national crime
information gap and drive a deeper and more meaningful collaboration between
the federal, state, local and tribal criminal justice communities,” said Chief
Information Officer Joseph F. Klimavicz for the department.
No comments:
Post a Comment