FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs Sign Agreement to Improve Law Enforcement in Indian Country

During remarks at the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit today, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced that the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) signed an agreement to establish guidelines to provide for the effective and efficient administration of criminal investigations in Indian Country. This is the first update since the early 1990s to a memorandum of understanding between the agencies. The announcement is being discussed during a panel featuring Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta at the Summit. The Summit provides an opportunity for Administration and Tribal leaders from the 574 federally recognized Tribes to discuss ways the federal government can invest in and strengthen nation-to-nation relationships as well as ensure that progress in Indian Country endures for years to come. “This agreement is a crucial step to advancing public safety for American Indian and Alaska Native communities,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The Department of Justice is committed to working with the Department of the Interior to investigate Indian Country crimes, including reports of missing or murdered Indigenous people, quickly, effectively and respectfully. We are grateful to the Tribes that provided input into this new policy.”   “The FBI is committed to ongoing and continued collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI has a crucial role in successfully addressing matters in the nation’s Indian Country communities and this updated MOU affirms our dedication to the mission of protecting all Americans. The FBI will not waver in its support of our Tribal law enforcement agency partners and our coordination with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.” “Interagency coordination is absolutely critical given the complexities of jurisdiction in Tribal communities. This agreement supports an all-of-government approach to addressing federal responsibilities and Tribal needs in Indian Country,” said Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland for Indian Affairs. “All federal agencies share a treaty and trust responsibility to protect Tribal sovereignty and revitalize Tribal communities. This partnership will further support our efforts to keep Native people safe in their homes and communities.” Under the agreement, the BIA Office of Justice Services and the FBI will cooperate on investigations and share information and investigative reports. The agencies will also establish written guidelines outlining jurisdiction and investigative roles and responsibilities for investigators from the BIA, FBI and Tribal law enforcement agencies. The agreement also requires that all BIA, FBI and Tribal law enforcement officers receive training regarding trauma-informed, culturally responsive investigative approaches. This agreement will support the unified response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis, and the Missing and Murdered Unit launched by Secretary Haaland. It defines responsibilities for FBI, BIA and Tribal investigators to ensure that missing person cases are entered into the National Crime Information Center, National Incident-Based Reporting System and other appropriate federal criminal databases, and that DNA is submitted to the National Missing Person DNA Database when appropriate and available. The agreement also specifies that the FBI will take an initial primary role in the investigation of any BIA or Tribal law enforcement officer-involved shootings and in-custody death incidents. The BIA will concurrently conduct separate internal administrative investigations of any BIA or Tribal law enforcement officer-involved shootings and in-custody death incidents. The mission of the BIA Office of Justice Services is to uphold Tribal sovereignty and provide for the safety of Indian communities by ensuring the protection of life and property, enforcing laws, maintaining justice and order, and by ensuring sentenced American Indian offenders are confined in safe, secure, and humane environments. Ensuring public safety and justice is arguably the most fundamental of government services provided in Tribal communities. Source-FBI

Land, Houses and a Compromised System

In 1801,1836 and 1854, the General Enclosure Acts were passed. The General Enclosure Act of 1845 superseded the Parliamentary committee which exmained Enclosure Bills by Enclosure Commissioners,who instead of sitting at Westminister, moved tothe scene. The Enclosure Commissioner presented their findings to Parliament inthe form of GeneralBill forpassage into law. The Suqire expanded his holdings and expanded tothe land of ejected tenants, in addition to common land and waste,while the larger freeholders held on to their claims and increased their holdings. But this,washowever, not the case for smaller freeholders. An Enclosure Bill was not enough to drive a freeholder off the landbecause he had legal claims to his holding.

Aspects of the Enclosure which negatively affected the freeholder include : He had to pay his share of the expenses of enclosure,which was an expensive process,varying from about 200 Pounds to nearly 500 Pounds.If unable to pay,then he had to sell off the plot of land awarded to him. If he survived,he had to pay forthe hedges and fences which every owner was compelled to make round the new fields. If he couldnot do this, the land would be sold or mortgaged. A number of the freeholdersbecame tenant farmers,renting lands instead of farming their own. Most were compelledby economic difficulties to do this, a few thought it profitabletosell their small holding and rent a large acerage,where rationalized methods couldbe practised more economically.Others who sold out, abandoned the countryside and chanelled the proceeds of the sale into industrial ventures. The remaining left, optedfor none of the above alternativesand were compelled to work as laborers onthe lands they hadonce owned or as ''lands''in one of the new factories. The foregoing in addition tothe infringement ofthe rights of cottagers and squatters based on customs and the cutting short of the sources of livelihood of peopel who depended onthe open-field village resulted in resistance and violence. The ruling clas rode roughshod of the peasants. Laws at this period, favored the ruling class,while the living conditions ofthe farm laborers deteriorated rapidly. Several died out of starvation and the draconian laws of this period.Game laws favored the ruling class and poaching was an offense with very inhuman punishment, even though the unemployed, agricultural laborers, miners and ribbon weavers depended on poaching for survival. Between 1799 and 1800, influenced by the Enclosure Act and industrialization, destitution had become a challenge of dangerous dimension. Indeed, the Poor Law, the Law of Settlement, the Game Laws and the Enclosure Laws, all contributed greatly to the impoverishment of the people who constituted the majoriity. Public attentiobn was attracted to the predicament of the poor by humanity and public interest. InNigeria, today, land and proeprty owners have beenand are stiilbeen dispossessed of their land and housesby Those-in-Chagre,their agents, proxiesand fronts,with the desperate collaboration of a heavily compromised legaland law enforcement system.

Law Enforcement: The Reactionary Approach

  

Impunity in cities, towns, and villages across Nigeria revolves around the fact that those responsible for law enforcement have been heavily compromised.
Perhaps, this is the price to be paid to achieve self-centered goals with the coercive powers of Those-in-Charge in a depressed economy.
The obsessive lure of power seems too attractive for those involved to be committed to democracy. An unspecified number of citizens are now used as proxies.
The Nigerian society is now that of guns, terrorism, kidnappings, killings(for ritual purposes inclusive), contempt for the rule of law, and other violent crimes.
The reactionary approach to law enforcement and insecurity has resulted in the massive traumatization of the psyche of Nigerians; considering the increasing rate of abductions and killings in the land.

 

 In saner climes, the structure of the national security system was fumigated, overhauled, and remodeled. This singular action ensured the exit of those lacking in integrity and credibility.
Sadly, today, state actors are not working towards leaving behind enduring legacies, instead, their energy dissipation points to monetary inducement for erstwhile credible commentators in a desperate bid to cover up the rot in the midst of non-performance.