NCJ Number
213579
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 33 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 18,20,27
Date Published
February 2006
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the challenges faced by law enforcement serving Indian reservations using examples from the States of Arizona, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Abstract
Tribal police provide law enforcement services in some of country’s most remote and undeveloped areas. They are stretched thin over large and geographically diverse territories. In addition to the geographic problems, tribal police chiefs face personnel problems, as well as high unemployment making drugs and substance abuse one of their greatest challenges. There is also a lack of funding to build the necessary infrastructure to accomplish the mission of providing police services and public safety services. In Arizona, the Hualapai Nation consists of population of about 2,800 with around 1,800 living on the reservation’s 1 million acres. There is one chief and ten commissioned officers that act as the primary law enforcement agency for this area. The geographical challenges facing these officers are immense. The Stillaguamish Tribal Police of Arlington, Washington have 650 square miles of fish and game territory to cover, as well as a casino with seven patrol officers. The Stillaguamish Tribal police officers are also commissioned by both the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). However, the BIA itself faces a lack of personnel to assist tribes. Even with the lack of funding, the State of Wisconsin is accessing funds from the U.S. Department of Justice, COPS grant program to attain mobile computers and access the State’s TIME system to check licenses, warrants, and wanted notices.