Rounds Leads Colleagues in Requesting Funding Increase for Tribal Law Enforcement Programs

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) recently led 10 of their Senate colleagues in requesting funding for tribal law enforcement programs in the FY2025 Appropriations bill. The bipartisan letter was sent to Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

“As you consider funding priorities in the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, we ask that you support robust funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Public Safety and Justice Law Enforcement programs,” the senators wrote. “We appreciate your past support for tribal law enforcement, and we hope that you will make funding for these programs a priority.”

“Tribal law enforcement agencies have been under-resourced and under-staffed for decades and they are now being asked to face a new, dangerous threat posed by these cartels and criminal organizations,” the senators continued. “In an attempt to address manpower issues, a number of tribal leaders have asked the federal government to provide emergency resources.”

Rounds and Cortez Masto were joined on the letter by Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

BACKGROUND:

• In April 2024, Rounds requested the BIA to consider the possibility of opening a tribal law enforcement training center in South Dakota to address officer recruitment and retention on reservations. 
• In March 2024, Rounds and Thune requested a Government Accountability Office inquiry into tribal law enforcement funding.
• In December 2023, Rounds, Thune and Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland urging her to address the public safety crisis on reservations in South Dakota.
• In June 2023, Rounds, Thune and Johnson requested additional support for tribal law enforcement agencies in South Dakota from Secretary Haaland.

Read the full letter HERE or below.

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Dear Chairman Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:

As you consider funding priorities in the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, we ask that you support robust funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Public Safety and Justice Law Enforcement programs. We appreciate your past support for tribal law enforcement, and we hope that you will make funding for these programs a priority.

As you know, tribal communities are experiencing a major uptick in violent and drug-related crime that can only be described as a crisis. According to leadership at the Department of the Interior, recent data indicates some tribes have experienced violent crime rates five times higher than the U.S. national average. Many law enforcement leaders in Indian Country directly attribute a recent increase in crime to severe shortages of police personnel. On numerous reservations, only a handful of officers are tasked with patrolling millions of acres. Criminal entities, including Mexican drug cartels, are taking note of the lack of manpower and are directly targeting reservation communities. As a result, tribal law enforcement officers are encountering higher volumes of illegal drugs, including fentanyl.

Tribal law enforcement agencies have been under-resourced and under-staffed for decades and they are now being asked to face a new, dangerous threat posed by these cartels and criminal organizations. With low personnel numbers and a high number of calls for assistance, tribal law enforcement officers often struggle to respond to emergencies in a timely manner. In an attempt to address manpower issues, a number of tribal leaders have asked the federal government to provide emergency resources.

Again, we appreciate the Subcommittee's past support for tribal law enforcement and encourage you to make funding for these programs a priority in FY 2025. Robust funding for BIA Public Safety and Justice Law Enforcement programs will help address the public safety crisis and improve law enforcement services in reservation communities.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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