Source: United States Department of Justice News
Department of Justice Tribal Access Program Will Continue to Improve the Exchange of Critical Data
The Department of Justice has selected an additional 16 federally recognized Tribes to participate in the continued expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides Tribal governments with means to access, enter and exchange data with national crime information systems, including those maintained by the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division.
“The Department is committed to strengthening our government-to-government partnership with Tribal nations, including providing critical access to criminal databases through the Tribal Access Program,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “With today’s announcement, 16 additional participating Tribes will be able to register sex offenders, protect victims of domestic violence, prevent prohibited persons from obtaining firearms, and help locate missing people.”
The program provides training as well as software and biometric/biographic kiosk workstations to process fingerprints, take mugshots, and submit information to CJIS systems. With these additional Tribes, there are now 123 federally recognized Tribes participating in TAP.
The Department of Justice began TAP in 2015 in response to concerns raised by Tribal leaders about the need to have direct access to federal systems. Using TAP, Tribes have shared information about missing persons; registered convicted sex offenders; entered domestic violence orders of protection for nationwide enforcement; run criminal histories; identified and arrested fugitives; entered bookings and convictions; and completed fingerprint-based record checks for non-criminal justice purposes such as screening employees or volunteers who work with children.
The following Tribes have been newly selected for participation in TAP:
- Chickaloon Native Village
- Hoh Indian Tribe
- Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
- Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
- Oglala Sioux Tribe
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
- Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada
- Poarch Band of Creek Indians
- Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
- Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico
- Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation
- Quapaw Nation
- Robinson Rancheria
- Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska
- Skokomish Indian Tribe
- Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota
TAP is managed by the Justice Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice. It is funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART), the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.