From BLT:
The Justice Department announced today a renewed effort to improve law enforcement on tribal land through a partnership among Native American leaders and the federal government.
Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, addressing more than 500 attendees at the National Congress on American Indians in New York, said the department later this year will convene a Tribal Nationals Listening Conference to address public safety concerns on tribal land. Click here for a copy of Perrelli’s prepared remarks, provided by the Justice Department.
The listening conference and a planned series of regional summits are expected to address, among other topics, federal prosecution in Indian country, development of tribal courts, domestic violence, substance abuse, civil rights and litigation involving tribes. The initiative, Perrelli says, is “tremendously important.”
“These are communities in the United States that are facing extremely high crime rates and poverty. The United States has a special responsibility to work with and assist these communities,” says Perrelli, who chaired the department’s Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative under Attorney General Janet Reno. “The department, from the attorney general on down, is making this a priority.”
In his remarks today, Perrelli noted that $225 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is dedicated to improving and building correctional facilities. An additional $20 million in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill is designated to provide equipment, technology and training to law enforcement officers on tribal land. The Office on Violence Against Women has given more than $86 million to projects that the Justice Department says reach nearly half of the country’s 562 tribes, according to the Justice Department.
The department, Perrelli says, supports legislation to establish the Office of Tribal Justice as a separate and permanent component of the department—an expression, he says, of the department’s commitment to improving lives in Indian country.
“We all view this as a first step that will hopefully move from listening, discussion and consultation on to action in order to address the endemic problems in Indian country,” Perrelli says.
The White House today announced its plan to hold a Tribal Nations Conference later this year. President Obama today tapped Kimberly Teehee as Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs to advise the president on tribal issues.
Turtle Talk 