U.S. ATTORNEY'S TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING
EXPANDS TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Colorado Pilot Program Helps Tribes Fight Domestic Violence, other Federal Crimes on Reservations

PORTLAND, OR – U.S. Attorney Troy Eid has joined forces with two other federal agencies to extend Colorado's nationally recognized law enforcement training program to help Pacific Northwest Indian tribes address violent crimes.

Eid and two veteran Assistant U.S. Attorneys - Criminal Division Chief Jim Allison and Roxane Perruso, Coordinator of Colorado's Project Safe Childhood program - are this week teaching tribal police officers from Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington.  The training focuses on how these officers can effectively navigate the jurisdictional maze that may prevent or hinder crimes on Indian reservations from being properly investigated or prosecuted.

Eid's office in Colorado has teamed with another U.S. Department of Justice agency, the Office of Justice Programs' Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO), and the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Police Academy, to conduct the first-ever law enforcement training workshop in Portland, OR.  The workshop is part of a Justice Department CCDO Strategy Development Workshop attended by more than 700 recipients of Weed and Seed community public safety grants.  DOJ’s Weed and Seed initiative promotes comprehensive strategies to reduce crime and revitalize communities.

“CCDO is committed to being a full partner with tribal law enforcement and the communities they serve”, said CCDO Director Dennis Greenhouse. “Tribal communities face many challenges today.  We were pleased to join forces with U.S. Attorney Eid and the BIA to provide this important training, improve public safety and strengthen our partnerships with Indian Country.“ 

Participating Tribal police officers may be federally commissioned or deputized by the BIA so they can make federal arrests - for instance, in cases where a non-Indian defendant commits a sexual assault on a Native American victim on an Indian reservation.  In this way, tribal officers who are federally deputized are eligible to enforce federal laws, such as the Violence Against Women Act, on Indian nations. 

This will be the seventh such training session during the past year by Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office. Since starting the program in February 2007, in partnership with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Eid and five Colorado AUSAs - Allison, Perruso, Senior Litigation Counsel Robert Mydans, and James Candelaria, Durango Branch Chief - have trained Indian Country criminal justice instructors from seven other U.S. Attorney's Offices across the country. 

They have also personally taught more than 100 state, local and tribal law enforcement officers in Colorado, plus another 60 local and tribal officers from Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.

"Strengthening criminal justice on Indian reservations demands that the federal government join forces with sovereign Indian nations as never before," Eid said. "For justice to become a reality for all Americans, we must keep seeking innovative ways to protect Native people and non-Natives who live and work on Indian reservations."

Colorado law enforcement entities that have been trained as part of the U.S. Attorney's Office pilot program include:

Archuleta County Sheriff's Department
City of Cortez Police Department
City of Durango Police Department
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
Colorado State Patrol
Colorado Division of Wildlife
LaPlata County Sheriff's Department
Montezuma County Sheriff's Department
Southern Ute Indian Tribe/Division of Gaming
Southern Ute Police Department
Southern Ute Indian Tribe/Wildlife Rangers
Town of Bayfield Marshal's Office
Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe/Wildlife Rangers

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