- 
      - **  Home
      - **   About Us
      - **  Archives
      - **  News
      - **  Publications

### Contact Us

To provide feedback on the Community Policing Dispatch, e-mail the editorial board at CPDispatch@usdoj.gov.

To obtain details on COPS Office programs, publications, and resources, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov

**U.S. Department of Justice**                    Office of Community Oriented Policing Services                    145 N Street, N.E.                     Washington, DC 20530 www.cops.usdoj.gov

            - Home
            - About Us
            - Archives
            - News
            - Publications
            - Contact Us

###  How Tribes can “TAP” into Critical Crime Data: COPS Funding in Action 

 June 2017 | Volume 10 | Issue 6

The Fort Peck, Makah, and Standing Rock are among the  tribes that have recently launched the Tribal Access Program (TAP), a valuable tool available from the U.S. Department  of Justice (DOJ) that enables tribal law enforcement and other authorized users  to access critical criminal justice information and exchange it with state  local and federal agencies across the nation. In total, ten tribes will be  included in the current rollout phase scheduled throughout the summer. 

          The DOJ’s Office of the Chief Information Officer operates  TAP in collaboration with DOJ’s Office of Tribal Justice, the SMART Office (Office of Sex Offender Sentencing,  Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking)  Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information  Systems (CJIS) Division, and the tribes themselves. The TAP  program is essential for law enforcement collaboration, and the Attorney  General recently highlighted TAP as one of the cornerstones of public safety in  Indian country.

 Tribal Access Program (TAP)
          TAP consists of  three primary elements: access, technology, and training. Access to national  crime information databases is provided via the OCIO, which acts as the CJIS Systems  Agency for tribes unable or unwilling to access CJIS–managed services through  state networks. Tribes participating in TAP receive an integrated workstation  that includes a computer, fingerprint/palm print scanner, integrated camera,  flatbed scanner, printer, and optional ruggedized kiosk cabinet (a ruggedized  kiosk is designed to be hard-wearing and damage-resistant, to maintain security  standards). Software applications on the workstation provide access to over a  half dozen criminal information databases, including:

          FBI’s National  Crime Information System;          FBI’s fingerprint  and biometric system;          Next  Generation Identification, the national repository of criminal histories;           Interstate  Identification Index;           International  Justice and Public Safety Network;           National  Data Exchange System, an online tool for sharing, searching, linking and  analyzing information across jurisdictional boundaries. 

TAP also provides tribes with onsite training and access  to an online training and learning portal containing training videos, job aids,  fact sheets and certification tests for CJIS Awareness Training and National  Crime Information Center (NCIC) usage.

**History of TAP**

The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Violence Against  Women Act of 2005 require the Attorney General to ensure that tribal law  enforcement officials who meet applicable federal or state requirements be  permitted access to national crime information databases. In addition, certain  federal laws—such as Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act  of 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)—require  entry of tribal sex offender biometrics and biographical data into national  crime information databases, including the National Sex Offender Registry.  However, the reality is that many tribes have limited or no access to these  databases and, until TAP, that access depended upon various regulations,  statutes, and policies of the states in which tribal lands are located. 

        Two pilot programs led the way to the current Tribal  Access Program: the TAP-Law Enforcement Only (TAP-LEO) and the Joint Automated  Booking System, or JABS. 

**TAP-LEO**

Before the development of TAP, the Office of Tribal  Justice identified a challenge in Indian country that tribal law enforcement  agencies were having in accessing national crime information databases. Thus in  2010, through funding from the COPS Office, the OCIO began assisting tribal law  enforcement agencies that were unable to use these databases by facilitating  their access to the NCIC. This effort continues under the auspices of TAP as  TAP-Law Enforcement Only and serves 14 tribal law enforcement agencies across  the country.

**JABS**

In addition, in response to the requirements of SORNA, the  SMART Office developed a pilot project in 2013 to enable tribes to submit sex  offender fingerprints into the FBI’s Next Generation Identification database  via the Joint Automated Booking System. Participating tribes were provided with  a PC workstation, monitor, livescan, printer, scanner, and camera, as well as  the necessary software. The JABS pilot was limited in scope, but it provided  critical feedback and informed development of the TAP program.

**TAP Phased Rollout**

TAP was first initiated in August 2015, through funding  from the SMART Office, and, by November 2015, nine tribes had been selected for  participation. 

          The FY16 deployment served as a “User Feedback Phase.”  Funded entirely by SMART, this phase of TAP was used to evaluate the onboarding  and vetting process, technology, training and support, as well as to provide an  opportunity for tribes to share best practices and lessons learned. By the end  of August 2016, the TAP team began collecting quantitative metrics on its use and  qualitative feedback on how well the process worked. 

          In late 2016, DOJ announced the expansion of TAP to 10  additional sites. This phase of TAP was funded by the SMART Office and the COPS  Office and supported with technical assistance from the OCIO. The COPS Office  provided $1 million and the SMART Office provided $1.75 million toward the  expansion to tribes across the country, from Alaska to California to Wisconsin.  TAP is one example of COPS funding in action to support law enforcement for  local, state, and tribal agencies across the country.

****
**Success Stories**

Under TAP, tribes have successfully begun entering  information directly into the federal databases, resulting in 121 sex offender  registrations and 89 sex offender check-ins, dozens of instances of data entry  prohibiting someone from being able to purchase a firearm, nearly 350 orders of  protection entered or modified, and over 700 fingerprint-based record checks  for civil purposes that include employment, tribal housing placement, and background  checks for personnel who have regular contact with or control over Indian  children.

          Specific accomplishments have included the following: 

- Preventing a person convicted of domestic  violence from purchasing a firearm after police identified an imminent threat  to his former spouse
- Stopping a firearm purchase by a known drug user  who had been found mentally incompetent to stand trial
- Entering orders of protection so that victims no  longer had to personally take the order to the county sheriff’s office 
- Conducting required fingerprint-based background  checks for emergency foster care placement 
- Providing tribal criminal histories through  arrest, booking, and tribal court disposition entries

One particular success story was recently awarded the 2017  FBI National Data Exchange (N-DEx) Excellence in Information Sharing Award:

          A detective sergeant with the Suquamish Tribal Police  Department in Washington state was conducting an investigation into the  kidnapping of an elderly vulnerable adult, but had only a partial name of the  female suspect who had driven him off the reservation. The case was time-sensitive,  since the victim had dementia and had no access to his daily medications. The  detective sergeant logged on to the FBI’s National Data Exchange System and found  the suspect’s telephone number and a police report from another county that  contained her full name and date of birth. The N-DEx record also listed a  previous male victim who had an active protection order in place against the  suspect. That victim gave information on the suspect’s car that allowed the  investigator to track her down and rescue the victim, who otherwise might never  have been found. 

          While TAP has been instrumental in advancing public safety  for the 33 tribes participating in the program, all of Indian country needs  better access to national crime information databases—54 tribes expressed  interest in the Tribal Access Program during the FY17 selection process, but  only ten were able to enroll. The DOJ is committed to advancing public safety  for Indian nations through maintaining and expanding TAP. Please check the TAP  website at www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap for future opportunities to participate in the program. 

          A full listing of the tribes participating in TAP is in  the map below.          

For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.          

For more information on the COPS Office, visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.          

For more information on the SMART Office, visit www.smart.gov. 

          Matthew Lysakowski, Senior Advisor for Tribal Affairs        Contributing Writer

          Dawn Doran         Acting Director, SMART Office

References1  “Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Actions to Support Law  Enforcement and Maintain Public Safety in Indian country,” Department of Justice press release, April 18, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-announces-new-actions-support-law-enforcement-and-maintain.

Tweet

**Subscribe to Email Updates**
To sign up for monthly updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please enter your email address in the Subscribe box.

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

**Explore**
                    - Home
                    - About Us
                    - Archives
                    - News
                    - Publications
                    - Contact Us

**
Connect With Us 
**
Want to stay connected with the COPS office? Follow us on social media!
                    - 
                    - 
                    - 
- 
- 
- 

                     FOIA 

                     No FEAR Act 

                     Open Government 

                     Plain Writing 

                     USA.gov 

                     Legal Policies and Disclaimers 

                     Language Access Plan 

                     DOJ Privacy Policy