Source: http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/indian-country_060112
Timestamp: 2013-12-11 12:11:03
Document Index: 16569197

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 6']

FBI — Journey Through Indian Country, Part 1
Journey Through Indian Country, Part 1
Journey Through Indian Country, Part 1	New series opens with a look at our unique responsibilities on Native American land.
A special agent overlooks the Shiprock land formation on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The reservation, the largest in the country, is one of about 200 federally recognized Indian reservations where the FBI has investigative responsibilities.
Journey Through Indian CountryPart 1: Fighting Crime on Tribal Lands
‘Gravity of Violence’
Ken Gonzales, New Mexico’s U.S. Attorney, points out that there are “a lot of good things happening in Indian Country, a lot of efforts by our Native-American leaders to bring jobs to the reservations and to improve access to education.”
But the state’s top law enforcement officer is also painfully aware of the “gravity of violence” seen on Indian reservations. “It’s a kind of brutality that I don’t think a lot of people understand completely,” he said. “It’s really quite startling.”
Homicides, child sexual assaults, and domestic violence against women are commonplace, Gonzales said. “It’s widely known that Native American women suffer violent crime at a rate three and a half times greater than the national average. One third of all Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes. So these are serious issues.”
Gonzales said that since becoming U.S. Attorney in 2010, “I’ve put the work of Indian Country very high on my list of things to get done. I created a stand-alone section—we call it our Indian Country Crime Section—and we’ve stocked it with some of our best and brightest Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Their job is to do nothing but Indian Country work.”
The prosecutors work closely with the FBI. “We maintain a very regular and open line of communication with the agents working in Indian Country,” Gonzales said. “So it makes for a very good working relationship. The FBI has a very strong presence in many of these communities. They have been doing very difficult work, and doing it in a very good way, for many years. My office relies tremendously on their expertise.”
Next: Investigators, ambassadors, and role models.
About This SeriesNationwide, the FBI is responsible for investigating the most serious crimes within Indian Country and has investigative responsibilities on about 200 reservations. FBI.gov recently visited New Mexico for a firsthand look at how the Bureau and our partners fight crime on tribal lands.
- Part 1: Fighting Crime on Tribal Lands - Part 2: Making an Impact on the Reservation- Part 3: Murder on the Zuni Reservation - Part 4: Teamwork Makes a Difficult Job Easier- Part 5: A Zero Tolerance Approach- Part 6: Invaluable Experience on the Reservation
“The work that’s being done out there, it’s truly front-line. It’s also relying on your own resources, your own wits, to get the job done, because you don’t have a lot of backup.” — Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge, Albuquerque FBI
FBI officials and our law enforcement partners discuss the unique challenges of working and living in New Mexico’s Indian Country. Special Agent in Charge, Albuquerque Division
U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico
Special Agent, Farmington Resident Agency
Special Agent, Gallup Resident Agency
CriminalInvestigator, The Navajo Nation
Special Agent, Albuquerque Division
Special Agent, Santa Fe Resident Agency
Assistant Prosecutor, Mescalero Apache Tribe
Senior Prosecutor, The Navajo Nation
Indian Country CrimesThe FBI investigates the most serious offenses: murder, child sexual and physical abuse, violent assaults, drug trafficking, gaming violations, and public corruption matters.Learn More