WHEREAS, citizens who reside on Native American reservations should be able to expect and enjoy the same degree of personal security and freedom from crime that is afforded to other Americans who reside outside of the reservation: and WHEREAS, one of the greatest impediments to delivery of justice to victims of crime in Indian Country is a lack on investigative resources; and

WHEREAS, crime and juvenile delinquency rates within Indian Country in the Untied States are unacceptably high, and both the overall crime rate and the rate of alcohol-related crime are four times higher than the national average; and

WHEREAS, federal law enforcement services in Indian Country are currently provided primarily through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, supplemental in only the most serious felony investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and

WHEREAS, despite the commitment of both the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to improving the quality of justice and the quality of life in Indian Country, federal law enforcement in Indian Country is severely hampered by a lack of resources, diffuse priorities within the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and annual assaults on the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for reason unrelated to law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, although the establishment of professional line authority for Bureau of Indian Affairs criminal investigators has been a very positive development for federal law enforcement in Indian Country, uniformed tribal officers still report to civilian, non-law enforcement supervisors, who have multiple other responsibilities and priorities apart from law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, consolidation of the federal law enforcement function in one professional, exclusively law enforcement-oriented force under the Department of Justice would promote efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness, and justice for both victims and offenders in Indian Country; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), duly assembled at its 103rd annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, urges Congress to consolidate all federal law enforcement agencies providing services in Indian Country into one professional force to include uniformed officers as well as criminal investigators, to be known as the Federal Indian Police, and to be organized, funded, administered, and supervised under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States provided that such consideration shall in no way inhibit or prevent continued application for funding under customary PL 93-638 contracts or grants.