FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	OTJ

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1998                                                                     (202) 616-2777

                                                                                                                                      TDD (202) 514-1888




ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO REQUESTS INCREASED FUNDING IN FY 1999


TO IMPROVE LAW ENFORCEMENT IN INDIAN COUNTRY





	WASHINGTON, D.C. --  In an effort to combat rising crime rates
on Indian lands, Attorney General Janet Reno today told a meeting
of tribal leaders that she has asked Congress for more than $157
million in new and redirected funds for Fiscal Year 1999 to improve
law enforcement in Indian Country.

	Speaking before leaders of Southern and Eastern tribes of the
United States, Reno said the requested funds are part of a $182
million initiative with the Department of Interior that will raise
the level of law enforcement in Indian Country to national
standards.  The requested funds will help increase the number of
officers per capita as well as the quality of detention facilities.

	 "Violence and crime in Indian Country impose a terrible toll
on Native American citizens," said Reno.  "This budget request will
allow us to take important steps to improve peace and stability in
all Native American communities."

	Of the $157 million that the Department is seeking, $52
million will fund grants to construct and expand juvenile
correctional facilities and jails that suffer from insufficient
staffing and inadequate inmate safety.

	Fifty four million dollars of the requested funds will be
devoted to hiring police officers, through the Community Oriented
Policing Service, exclusively in Indian Country.	Currently, Indian
lands have only 1.3 police officers per 1,000 citizens, compared
with an average of 2.9 officer per 1,000 citizens in non-Indian
areas with similar population densities.  

	Also, if Congress approves the request, more than $51 million
of the additional funding will help pay for 30 additional FBI
agents and 26 attorneys to enhance investigations and prosecutions
and reduce violent crime, gang-related violence and juvenile crime. 
An Indian Tribal Courts Program, Drug Testing and Intervention
Program and At-Risk Children's Grant Program will also be
established with funds requested in the FY 1999 budget.

	In August 1997, President Clinton directed the Attorney
General and Secretary of Interior to work with tribal leaders to
address the law enforcement problem in Indian Country.  An
Executive Committee was established and a report was presented to
the President in January outlining the necessary steps needed to
improve safety on Indian lands.

	At today's meeting, Reno also stressed the importance of
enhancing tribal courts as institutions of justice and building
viable reservation economies so Indian people may continue to live
according to their own cultures on their own lands.




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