Unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities to get more
attention with FBI surge
[April 02, 2025]
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The FBI is sending extra agents, analysts and
other personnel to field offices in 10 states over the next six months
to help investigate unsolved violent crimes in Indian Country, marking a
continuation of efforts by the federal government to address high rates
of violence affecting Native American communities.
The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that the temporary duty
assignments began immediately and will rotate every 90 days in field
offices that include Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis,
Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, and Jackson,
Mississippi.
The FBI will be working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and
Murdered Unit, tribal authorities and federal prosecutors in each of the
states.
“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are
unacceptably high,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a
statement. “By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S.
attorneys and tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department
of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities
deserve.”
Work to bring more attention to the crisis has spanned decades.
President Donald Trump was the first president to formally recognize the
issue when he signed an executive order during his first term
establishing a task force to tackle the high rate of killings and
disappearances among Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
He also signed legislation in 2020 that directed the Justice and
Interior departments to consult with tribes while developing national
law enforcement guidelines and a separate measure that called for a
federal commission to be established to find ways to improve how
government responds to Indian Country cases.
President Joe Biden issued his own executive order on public safety in
2021, and then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland launched efforts to
implement the Not Invisible Act and the federal commission. Public
meetings were held around the country as part of the effort, survivors
and family members told heartbreaking stories and recommendations were
crafted in 2023.
The Justice Department that year also established its Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Persons outreach program, dispatching more attorneys
and coordinators to certain regions to help with unsolved cases.
In past years, the FBI's Operation Not Forgotten had deployed about 50
people for the temporary duty. This year, it's 60.
[to top of second column]
|
Families and victims advocates participate in a prayer walk
around the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to mark Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Persons Day in Albuquerque, N.M., Sunday, May 5,
2024. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)
But without consistent resources and trained detectives
investigating the crimes, advocates say many cases go unsolved. They
called the FBI's latest surge an essential investment, saying it
should be made permanent.
“This shouldn’t be just a one-time, six-month effort," said Abigail
Echo-Hawk, director of the Seattle-based Urban Indian Health
Institute. "We need this type of investment to continue and for
Indian Country to get the resources that we so desperately need.”
Being able to investigate and hold people accountable can serve as a
deterrent, Echo-Hawk said, adding that she's hopeful some families
can find justice as a result of the effort.
It took about four months for the Biden administration to issue a
response to the congressionally mandated recommendations submitted
by the Not Invisible Commission, acknowledging at the time that more
needed to be done across the federal government to resolve the
crisis and support healing from the generational traumas. But it's
unclear what has become of the recommendations now as a Justice
Department webpage that included a link to the report no longer
exists.
Echo-Hawk hopes Trump follows through with the promises made and the
work he started during the first term to address the problem.
“The Not Invisible Act Commission recommendations need to be
restored,” she said, “and we need to look at opportunities to
actualize them.”
According to federal authorities, the FBI’s Indian Country program
had 4,300 open investigations at the beginning of the fiscal year.
That included more than 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse
investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual
abuse cases.
The operation in the past two years has supported more than 500
investigations, leading to the recovery of 10 children who were
victims and the arrests of more than 50 suspects.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
