The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday announced it will invest new resources in Indian Country to address unresolved violent crimes.
The FBI, according to a news release, will assign 60 personnel to support field offices nationwide, including the Salt Lake Division that covers Montana.
The announcement marks what will be the third deployment under Operation Not Forgotten. The first two operations resulted in the recovery of 10 child victims, 52 arrests and 25 indictments or judicial complaints, according to a news release. As of October, the FBI’s Indian Country program had about 4,300 open investigations.
The disproportionately high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people is a nationwide crisis, and experts say Montana is an epicenter. While Native Americans comprise about 6.7% of the state’s population, as of this week, they accounted for 27% of Montana’s active cases of missing people.
Tribes in Montana have long said funding for law enforcement does not come close to meeting community needs. The Fort Belknap Indian Community and Northern Cheyenne Tribe have each sued federal entities in separate lawsuits alleging the federal government has failed to provide adequate public safety services. Last month, community members on the Fort Peck Reservation took to the streets to protest violence and call for change.
As tribal communities urge action, members of Montana’s American Indian Caucus have proposed bills in this legislative session to improve public safety in tribal communities.
- House Bill 83 became law, allowing the state’s Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force to receive donations and other money.
- House Bill 545 would rename the task force the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Advisory Council and add a homicide investigator to the group. That bill cleared the House and will be considered by the Senate.
- House Joint Resolution 1 urges Congress to fully fund law enforcement on reservations in Montana. While a resolution cannot create law, it’s meant to reflect the Legislature’s priorities. HJ 1 also cleared the House.
- Senate Bill 107 requires the Office of Public Instruction to develop curricula on how to identify and avoid human trafficking. That bill advanced out of the Senate and will be considered by the House.
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