The mission of the Office of Justice Services (OJS) is to uphold tribal sovereignty
and customs and provide for the safety of Indian communities by ensuring the
protection of life and property, enforcing laws, maintaining justice and order,
and by confining American Indian offenders in safe, secure, and humane environments. The
OJS is comprised of six primary areas:
- Division of Law Enforcement Operations which includes Criminal Investigations
and Police Services;
- Division of Corrections;
- Division of Professional Standards which includes Inspections and Internal
Affairs;
- Division of Drug Enforcement;
- Division of Tribal Justice Support (Courts); and
- The Indian Police Academy
Division of Law Enforcement Operations
The OJS is responsible for the overall management of Bureau law enforcement
services, and has responsibility for the investigation of crimes that occur
in Indian Country. This includes major federal crimes and state defined crimes
assimilated into Federal law including, but not limited to: murder,
manslaughter, child sex abuse, child neglect, kidnapping, rape, assault, arson,
burglary, robbery, counterfeiting, embezzlement, organized criminal enterprises
and the production, sale and/or distribution of illegal narcotics, including
methamphetamine, within Indian country. The law enforcement program provides
emergency tactical response teams to reservations requiring assistance, or
threatened with disruptions or civil disorders. The OJS supports 191 law enforcement
programs. Of these, 42 are direct-service programs operated by the Bureau
and 149 are operated independently by tribes under Public Law (PL) 93-638 contracts
or under Self-Governance compacts.
Division of Corrections
The focus of the OJS Division of Corrections is to provide correction services
in Indian country and make detention centers safer, more secure, and compliant
with nationally accepted standards. The Division of Corrections has responsibility
for overseeing 89 adult and/or juvenile detention programs. Of those
programs, 24 are Bureau direct-service programs, 48 are operated independently
by tribes under PL 93-638 contracts and 17 are operated independently by tribes
under Self-Governance compacts.
Division of Professional Standards
The Division of Professional Standards provides guidance and direction to
other Justice Services divisions. The oversight function emphasizes standardization
and professionalism of Bureau and tribal law enforcement and corrections programs
in Indian Country. By providing OJS with internal affairs inspection
and evaluation services, the program serves 280 Indian Country law enforcement
and detention programs. Objective inspections conducted include: federal
case file reviews, detention program reviews, police program reviews, and vulnerability
assessments.
Division of Drug Enforcement
The Division is staffed by Special Agents who engage in the investigation
of a number of complex and varied drug criminal cases, in a wide range of locations,
involving both geographically isolated and densely populated areas. The program
conducts comprehensive investigations involving violations of the Federal Indian
Liquor Law, Narcotics Laws, and other Federal crimes, and also violations under
the Assimilated Crimes Act, Section 13, Title18, U.S.C. which are applicable
where non-Indian vs. Indians or their property are involved.
Agents maintain liaison with all types of intelligence agencies and with Tribal,
Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies both for cross-jurisdictional
and cooperative efforts, and/or to develop information related to drugs or
other violations of law. They coordinate with, and sometimes direct,
multi-organizational and multi-jurisdictional task forces engaged in the investigation
of large and diverse organizations which cover several states and jurisdictions.
Task forces may generate or coordinate a number of separate investigations
or allegations.
The program is responsible for gathering information and statistics on drug
seizures and other drug intelligence to assess drug threats and determine drug
enforcement needs in Indian country. In addition, agents offer expert
advice and assistance to Indian communities concerning laws, procedures and
jurisdictional issues pertaining to drug enforcement. They coordinate and set-up
drug training programs for reservations in local areas on the dangers of drug
abuse and provide drug awareness education.
Division of Tribal Justice Support (Courts)
This program assists Tribes in their efforts to exercise their rights as sovereign
nations by establishing and maintaining their own civil and criminal judicial
systems in accordance with local tribal laws. There are approximately
288 tribal justice systems and BIA Courts of Indian Offenses in Indian Country. Of
these, 156 are currently supported directly through this program under PL 93-638
contracts. The remainder are supported indirectly through training activities
and technical support. The program supports the strengthening of tribal
courts and the implementation of the regulations under 25 CFR 11. Division
personnel schedule and arrange for independent Tribal Court reviews as mandated
by the OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) review recommendation.
The Indian Police Academy
The Indian Police Academy is co-located with the Department of Homeland Security
at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico. Academy
staff provides basic police, criminal investigation, and corrections coursework. In
addition, the academy offers numerous advanced training courses such as child
abuse investigation procedures, community policing, drug investigation, use
of force, firearms instruction, archeological resource protection, police management
and supervision, crime scene processing, detention, and dispatcher training
courses for both tribal and Bureau officers.
