Addressing Violent Crimes in Tribal Communities

The Department of Justice developed a comprehensive and coordinated approach for tribal governments to apply for funding to reduce and prevent crime and victimization. Through this process, the Department's existing tribal government-specific programs are included in and available through a single Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS). Through this solicitation, only one application was accepted from each federally recognized tribe to encourage comprehensive assessments of need and planning. Each tribe could apply for funding under up to ten purpose areas, which included funding from the Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS), Office of Justice Programs (including the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office for Victims of Crime and Office of Juvenile Justice, and Delinquency Prevention), and Office on Violence Against Women. The tribe had the flexibility to select the purpose areas whose funding addressed the needs of the tribe as outlined in its tribal and community profile. There were ten purpose areas in total, and Purpose Area 10 was dedicated to the Addressing Violent Crime in Tribal Communities Program.

The Addressing Violent Crime in Tribal Communities Program provides funding to address violent crime, specifically precipitous increases in violent or other serious crime. This includes combatting, addressing, or otherwise responding to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime or in a type of crime at the tribal level, especially violent crime, with strategies that enhance capacity to track, identify, and quickly respond to these crime issues.

With this award, the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma will hire, train, and equip an investigator for the purposes of violent crime investigation, case preparation, and courtroom testimony. This will allow the tribe to form a Multi-Jurisdictional Tribal Drug and Violent Crime Taskforce that will respond to requests within the region for the investigation of violent crimes.
CA/NCF