Omaha Tribe Combat Crime and Drug Project

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) solicits applications for initiatives which assist law enforcement in rural states and rural areas. The program helps rural states and rural areas to prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs.

The Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs Program, administered by BJA, helps rural states and rural areas prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs. In addition, priority consideration will be given to local law enforcement agencies in rural areas where the unit of local government is not eligible to receive a direct allocation from the Recovery Act Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program or received a direct allocation that was $50,000 or less. Applicants were invited to submit a proposal under any one of the following categories to: (1) combat rural crime; (2) improve rural law enforcement investigations; (3) enhance rural detention and jail operations; (4) facilitate rural justice information sharing; or (5) develop a national training and technical assistance program.

Under Category 1, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, in conjunction with the Omaha Nation Law Enforcement (ONLE), will use its award to enable justice information sharing. Due to large budget cuts and decreased funding, ONLE is unable to coordinate and collaborate in information sharing with other law enforcement agencies. ONLE's overall goal is to improve its capacity to share criminal intelligence information with other law enforcement agencies and use acquired information to provide better services to its community. To achieve this goal, ONLE will hire two program managers to establish a community policing plan to enhance collaborative efforts with other law enforcement agencies, improve information sharing capabilities with those agencies, and evaluate criminal data and statistics more effectively.

CA/CF