U.S. Department of the Interior - FACT SHEET

FACT SHEET Safe Indian Communities
The production, smuggling, distribution, and abuse of methamphetamine have led to a crisis in Indian country. Tribal leaders fear that an entire generation of Native Americans could be lost to this one drug. Organized crime and drug dealers have specifically targeted Indian country because of its remote and rural character and limited law enforcement resources. Violent crime associated with drug activities is on the rise and the rate of violence on tribal lands twice the national average. The combination of illegal drug use and illegal drug trafficking has devastated Indian families and threatens Native American culture. . The 2008 Budget proposes a $16.0 million Safe Indian Communities Initiative to support law enforcement efforts to combat the methamphetamine epidemic in Indian country. The initiative includes: Criminal Investigations, Police Services & Law Enforcement Projects (+$11.0 million) Provide 51 additional law enforcement officers in Indian Country. Provide funding to conduct specialized drug enforcement training for Office of Justice Services and tribal officers, increasing the number of officers trained to investigate drug crimes from 11 to 111. Create a more robust methamphetamine public awareness campaign to educate residents of at-risk tribal communities about the dangers of methamphetamine and its affects on both physical and mental health. The education campaign will include the highly successful “mobile meth labs” to alert communities to the warning signs of clandestine drug labs and the environmental dangers associated with these toxic environments. Improved Detention Center Staffing (+$5.0 million) With the dramatic increase in violent crime because of methamphetamine, Indian country detention centers are faced with increasingly violent inmates – often posing a serious threat to the safety of our correctional offices. This funding will be used to address this dramatic shortage in detention center staffing. Detention programs in Indian country currently have 1,230 personnel. This funding will allow for the recruitment of an additional 91 detention officers, an increase of 5% in the national staffing level for detention centers.

The production, smuggling, distribution, and abuse of methamphetamine have led to a crisis in Indian country. Tribal leaders fear that an entire generation of Native Americans could be lost to this one drug. Organized crime and drug dealers have specifically targeted Indian country because of its remote and rural character and limited law enforcement resources. Violent crime associated with drug activities is on the rise and the rate of violence on tribal lands twice the national average. The combination of illegal drug use and illegal drug trafficking has devastated Indian families and threatens Native American culture. .

The 2008 Budget proposes a $16.0 million Safe Indian Communities Initiative to support law enforcement efforts to combat the methamphetamine epidemic in Indian country. The initiative includes:

Criminal Investigations, Police Services & Law Enforcement Projects (+$11.0 million)

Provide 51 additional law enforcement officers in Indian Country.

Provide funding to conduct specialized drug enforcement training for Office of Justice Services and tribal officers, increasing the number of officers trained to investigate drug crimes from 11 to 111.
Create a more robust methamphetamine public awareness campaign to educate residents of at-risk tribal communities about the dangers of methamphetamine and its affects on both physical and mental health. The education campaign will include the highly successful “mobile meth labs” to alert communities to the warning signs of clandestine drug labs and the environmental dangers associated with these toxic environments.

Improved Detention Center Staffing (+$5.0 million)

With the dramatic increase in violent crime because of methamphetamine, Indian country detention centers are faced with increasingly violent inmates – often posing a serious threat to the safety of our correctional offices. This funding will be used to address this dramatic shortage in detention center staffing.
Detention programs in Indian country currently have 1,230 personnel. This funding will allow for the recruitment of an additional 91 detention officers, an increase of 5% in the national staffing level for detention centers.

FACT SHEET Safe Indian Communities

FACT SHEET
Safe Indian Communities