Fond du Lac Comprehensive Tribal Justice Systems Strategic Plan

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is a federally recognized tribe located in Cloquet, MN.  With this funding, the Fond du Lac Law Enforcement Division will:  1.) purchase 6 police vehicles including the police package, radar, video, Baycom, radio, and watch guard, other include travel to grantee meetings, training aids, computers, uniforms, body cams, and night vision equipment.  2.) Travel to CTAS grant training. 3.) Have 24 officers attend a mental health training. 2.) Hire a consultant to develop a Justice System Wide Strategic Plan.

The purpose of this project is to build upon and implement recommendations that are indicated in the Band’s 2019-2025 Strategic Plan.  The input from the community placed a priority on expanding the staffing, capacity and facility of the police department with an additional emphasis on continuing community policing efforts and further development of the Fond du Lac Tribal Court system.

The Fond du Lac Reservation encompasses 101,153 acres in two separate counties, Carlton and St. Louis. The eastern edge of the Reservation is located in the City of Cloquet; Minnesota (estimated population 11,200).  According to the 2019 ACS Demographic and Housing Estimate the total population of the Fond du Lac Reservation is 4,156 with 1,617 people (or 38.9% of the population) identified as Native American.

Through the proposal the Band is requesting new laptop computers for all the police vehicles and desktops for the offices.  Also, requested will be 6 new vehicles, equipped with the police package, radar, video system, and radios.  For the officers themselves there is funding to purchase uniforms, body cameras, radio’s, and training aids. Each year the officers put an estimated 30,000 miles on their vehicles.  Having new vehicles will reduce downtime for vehicles and reduce maintenance costs for the department’s budget.  Travel to CTAS grant training and have 24 officers attend a local mental health training.

To effectively address the range of problems facing our community, the Band requires a multi-departmental strategic plan to improve collaboration and identify resources needed to support the Bands justice system and support services. Of particular need are improvements to the collection of data and improved communication, both internally and with local counties. The Band will address its overall crime problems through a strategic planning process that will identify justice system gaps and resources available. The FDL justice system partners will create a plan that will have the following goals: 1.) improve collaboration across Band agencies and state and local jurisdictions, which often currently. 2.) ensure victims are getting the full support of wraparound services, with all available resources from the jurisdictions involved. 3.) will be a guide on overall crime issues with a focus on domestic abuse and substance abuse.

If you are requesting funding in multiple purpose areas, is the receipt of funding in a particular purpose area required for the implementation of any other purpose area being requested? If so, explain.  No, it is not required.