BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AGREES TO BOOST FUNDING FOR INDIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT

Senator says new funding will bring more resources to three North Dakota reservations

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or  Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced Tuesday that the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is using $25.7 million in congressionally appropriated funding to boost law enforcement on American Indian reservations across the nation, including three in North Dakota.

Dorgan, Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, has been pushing the BIA to provide more law enforcement resources to American Indian communities that have struggled with high crime rates. The effort has resulted in Operation Dakota Peacekeeper, which brought 20 additional police officers to the Standing Rock Reservation and helped reduce crime there.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Dorgan also pushed to raise funding for the Safe Indian Communities Initiative for this fiscal year to $25.7 million, an increase of $9 million over the President’s request. Dorgan said the BIA has agreed to direct $16.7 million of that total to additional police officers at priority sites, including:


• $1.78 million for police and corrections officers at the Standing Rock Reservation

• $560,000 for officers at the Spirit Lake Reservation

• $910,000 for officers at the Turtle Mountain Reservation

• $349,000 to fight methamphetamine abuse on all North Dakota reservations

“This new funding is a critical step forward in our effort to address crime in American Indian communities,” Dorgan said. “We have a responsibility to ensure these communities have the law enforcement resources they need to provide for basic public safety. We’re making some progress, but I’m going to keep pushing for a long-term solution to make sure tribal justice officials have the tools to keep their communities safe.”

Earlier this year, Dorgan introduced bipartisan legislation designed to give a long-term boost to law enforcement efforts in Indian Country. If approved, the bill would provide tools to tribal justice officials to fight crime in their own communities, improve coordination between tribal, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and increase transparency and accountability standards to ensure more efficient spending of federal funds for tribal law enforcement programs.

 

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