In recent weeks, the Obama administration has made safety on Indian reservations a major priority, doling out a slew of grants to tribes all over the West.
“The Department of Justice is well aware that Indian Country is struggling with complex law enforcement issues involving violent crime, violence against women and crimes against children, and that tribal communities are doing what they can with limited resources,” said Deputy Attorney General David Ogden in a press release.
Thirty-four percent of Indian or Alaska Native women will be raped or sexually assaulted during their lifetimes, compared to the national average of 21 percent, and 39 percent of Indian women will suffer domestic violence, compared to 25 percent nationally.
Tribes in North and South Dakota received more than $1 million for shelters and domestic violence programs, four New Mexico tribes were awarded $1.2 million for equipment and law enforcement officers and the La Jolla band of Luiseno Indians in California received $400,000 for a domestic violence program.
Most recently, the Dept. of Justice announced that 16 tribal communities in Washington will receive more than $5 million, primarily for the addition of new police officers and domestic violence programs, funded by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.
Highlights in Washington include $633,968 to the Squaxin Island tribe for improved services to women who’ve experienced domestic violence; $633,703 for the development of a new women’s shelter for the Swinomish Indian community; and several grants increasing the number of officers in various tribal police departments.
“This is going to assist us greatly,” says Joe Kautz, Chief of Police for the Nisqually Indian Tribe, which received $152,100 that they’ll use to hire an additional police officer. “We never have enough officers on the streets.”
Over the last few years, there’s been an uptick in crimes committed by youth on the Nisqually reservation, including graffiti, burglary, underage drinking and gang violence, Kautz says. Drug trafficking is also a problem (read “A culture of violence” for more on the rise of gang activity on Indian reservations). Having more police officers on the reservation will go a long way, Kautz says.
The Tulalip Tribes of Washington received $899,999 to renovate a safe house and $423,170 for two new police officers that will be placed on the swing and night shifts, which are usually the busiest, says Mike Catlett, police commander for the Tulalip tribe police department.
In a week, the Tulalip tribal police receive between three to four calls related to domestic violence, Catlett says. “It’s here just like on any city or reservation.”
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