Facebook Twitter Email
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2003

Although complaints date back several years, two recent incidents prompted the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take over the police department of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana.

Ed Naranjo, BIA special agent in charge, said a man was released unsupervised from the tribal jail to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting last week. The man instead raped and beat his girlfriend.

Naranjo also said the tribal police responded slowly to a rape involving a 13-year-old girl. Doctors reported the rape but no action was taken for several hours, he said.

"Something needed to be done," Naranjo said at a meeting on Monday, The Great Falls Tribune reported. "People were getting hurt."

The tribe is resisting the takeover and is asking for a federal judge to intervene. The BIA has authority over major crimes but the council won't give the new BIA officers the authority to enforce tribal law.

Get the Story:
Tribe won't authorize BIA (The Great Falls Tribune 2/18)

Relevant Links:
Blackfeet Nation - http://www.blackfeetnation.com

Related Stories:
BIA takes over Blackfeet Nation police force (2/17)
BIA adding names to police memorial (05/08)
Norton to move on law enforcement (4/1)
Another DOI bureaucrat urged (3/5)
BIA takes over tribe's police (6/15)
Rosebud police force under scrutiny (5/21)
BIA audit slams Omaha Tribe's police force (5/8)
Indian Country cops face setbacks (5/7)
Norton listens to tribal police tragedies (5/3)
BIA Cops: In the Line of Fire (5/2)
Ashcroft promises violence funding (4/6)
DOJ: Violent crime plagues Indian Country (3/19)