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**Director's Corner: Native  American Heritage Month**
 November 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 10

This month we honor our Native American Heritage by celebrating the rich and diverse cultures  and traditions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Throughout our  history, Native Americans have played an important role in our nation’s life,  while also holding on to their individual tribal languages and customs. 

 Native American Heritage  Month is also a good time to raise awareness about the unique challenges Native  people have faced in the past and the new ones that confront them in the  present – and seek ways to support their efforts to address them.

 Unfortunately, many of these communities have been largely  underserved by our criminal justice system. This is especially true in Alaska,  home to some of the most remote communities in our nation. According to one  estimate, one-third of Alaskan villages have no local law enforcement personnel  at all, and both geographical and jurisdictional issues hinder timely and  effective response from local and state law enforcement, resulting in the  highest per capita crime rate in the U.S.

 In response, Attorney General William P. Barr authorized emergency  funding in June of this year to immediately address this public safety crisis. Stating  that “lives depend on it,” he said, “We are committed to seeing a change in  this unacceptable, daily reality for Alaska Native people.” As part of this  effort, the COPS Office has awarded $5 million in grant funding to Alaska  Native agencies for the purpose of hiring, equipping, and training 20 law  enforcement officers, including Village  Public Safety Officers, Village Police Officers, and Tribal Police Officers.

 The problems facing Alaskan communities are critical, but  these tribes are not alone in dealing with overwhelming threats to their public  safety.  Tribes in other parts of the  country also suffer from a high crime rate because of a lack of financial  resources to support sufficient law enforcement personnel, confusion about  whether tribal, local, state or federal law enforcement should respond to an  incident, and the lack of authority to prosecute crimes that fall under federal  jurisdiction. 

 The urgency of this situation is underscored by an estimate from the May 2016 National Institute of Justice Research  Report on the Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men,  indicating that more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women  had been subjected to violence. 

 In response, many states and Congressional representatives  are currently studying or proposing legislation to address the high incidence  of murdered or missing Indigenous peoples. The COPS Office is also responding  to this and other tribal public safety problems. In addition to grant funding, we  are offering assistance in the form of the Collaborative Reform Initiative for  Technical Assistance (CRI-TA).  

 Participation in CRI-TA is voluntary and proactive on the  part of the requesting law enforcement agency. Moreover, it is collaborative in  nature and driven by an agency’s stated needs, providing assistance, resources,  and training tailored to the community’s specific public safety requirements. 

 Like all of our grant programs, CRI-TA’s goals and  operational structure align with the Attorney General’s statement that “we must  support the solutions that the communities themselves have identified and work  in partnership with them.”  We believe  that this is, by far, the most effective way to address the problems that  plague not only tribal lands, but the many other communities throughout our  country that are ravaged by substance abuse, violence, and other crimes. 

 This Thanksgiving, as we recall the harvest feast shared by  the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians almost 300 years ago, I hope that many of  us will also endeavor to learn more about the history, cultures, and traditions  of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and their many contributions to  American life.

**For further  information, please see the****Attorney General’s Emergency Announcement of Funding to Address the Public Safety Crisis in  Rural Alaska**

– Director Keith

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