Indian police worry over enforcement budgets

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 11:23:08 -0500

BY VALERIE TALIMAN

Indian Country Today

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- While the crime rate in Indian country is constantly rising, 
federal funding for reservation law enforcement agencies has been continually 
dropping as the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget is whittled away in what some 
police officials call ``annual assaults'' on law enforcement funding.

Despite the articulated commitment of the Department of Interior and the 
Department of Justice to improve justice in Indian country, law enforcement on 
reservations is severely hampered by a lack of resources, diffuse priorities 
within Interior and Indian Affairs departments, and annual budget cuts, said 
police officials at a recent conference.

This situation has led to an international call to consolidate all federal law 
enforcement agencies providing services in Indian country into one professional 
force, the Federal Indian Police, which would include uniformed officers and 
criminal investigators.

A resolution endorsing this concept was passed at the 103rd annual convention of
 the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which was attended by some 
12,000 law enforcement officials from throughout the world.

The convention included an ``Indian Country Section'' to enable police from 
Indian Nations to share the problems unique to law enforcement on Indian 
reservations. The problems include jurisdiction, rural geography, language and 
cultural considerations, and a lack of jail facilities, manpower and 
infrastructure deficiencies.

For example, Navajo Nation Public Safety Executive Director David Nez said that 
nationally, the ratio of police officers to population is about three officers 
for every 1,000 citizens. On the Navajo Nation, there is one officer per 1,000 
residents.

Add to that the expansive, rural nature of the 27,634-square-mile Navajo Nation 
which, in many areas, lacks paved roads, telephones and other services readily 
available off-reservation.

Navajo Nation President Albert Hale provided a ``sovereignty primer'' to explain
 Indian Nations' inherent authority to provide law enforcement services within 
their boundaries.

Hale attributed the rising crime rates on reservations to the breakdown of 
traditional social structures.

``We see more juvenile crime, domestic violence and other crimes that were once 
considered unthinkable because they were contrary to the clan relationships that
 regulated behavior between individuals, families and the community at large,'' 
he said.

``The federal budget cuts limit our ability to provide adequate law enforcement 
service to our people. In our case, the Navajo Nation has contracted with the 
BIA for criminal investigation, law enforcement and detention services pursuant 
to Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination Act. Inadequate funding has 
a direct impact on crime in our communities.''

According to police officials, the overall crime rate and the rate of 
alcohol-related crimes in Indian country are four times higher than the national
 average. They cite a lack of investigative resources as one of the ``greatest 
impediments'' to delivery of justice to victims of crime in Indian country.

The resolution calling for moving the Indian law enforcement function from 
Interior to the Department of Justice has some hurdles to overcome. Currently, 
there is no legislative authorization for the Justice Department to enter into 
contracts with Indian Nations, a situation that must be remedied by amendment of
 P.L. 93-638.

``Now we have the task of amending applicable federal law to achieve the intent 
of the resolution,'' said Hale, who also thanked the association for its 
support.