A detention center crisis on the Navajo Nation gives offenders a "get-out-of-jail free" card, a tribal official said.
The tribe has had to close two jails due to safety problems. That leaves just 59 beds to cover a 27,000-square-mile reservation with 175,000 people and more than 50,000 arrests in a year.
Department of Corrections director Delores Greyeyes told The Albuquerque Journal that offenders have learned to work the system. Some have told officers "I'll be out before you're back on your shift," she said.
The tribe is seeking $5 million to upgrade its jail facilities and to lease space off the reservation. But it would cost upwards of $373 million to fully fund a complete detention system on the reservation.
Get the Story:Only 3 Jails With a Total of 59 Beds Remain Open on the Navajo Reservation (The Farmington Daily Times 5/7) Inspector General Final Jail Report:
Text | PDF Inspector General Interim Jail Report:
Text | PDF Department of Justice Jail Reports:
Year 2002 | Year 2001 | Year 2000 | Years 1998-1999 Related Stories:
A 'revolving door' for criminals on Navajo Nation (5/4)
Navajo Nation approves emergency jail funds (5/2)
Navajo Nation Council OKs emergency jail funds (4/18)
Blackfeet Nation to relinquish detention center (04/04)
Oglala Sioux Tribe to open new jail this week (02/26)
DOJ budget slashes funds for tribal courts and jails (02/07)
BIA budget targets youth with new initiatives (2/6)
Northern Cheyenne woman lied about rape at BIA jail (12/15)
Red Lake Nation sues for unfunded juvenile jail (12/06)
Treatment of Native inmates a 'national disgrace' (10/17)
Jail on reservation set to open after upgrades (09/21)
Puyallup Tribe seeks $6.5M for new detention center (05/08)
Ute Tribe protests closing of BIA detention facility (03/17)
BIA closes detention center on Utah reservation (03/02)
Chippewa Cree Tribe to start housing juveniles (02/08)
Yakama family seeks $1.7M for death in BIA jail (11/14)
Blackfeet Nation seeks probe of BIA jail abuses (11/8)
Figures show drop in Indian Country jail population (10/25)
Mother sues BIA over teen's suicide attempt at jail (09/16)
Troubled tribal jail facility said to be closing (02/16)
Navajo Nation jail catches fire, escape at another (01/21)
Lawsuit filed over teen's suicide at BIA jail (12/02)
Data shows little change in BIA jail population (11/08)
Tribes could issue tax-free bonds for jails under bill (10/08)
Editorial: Treatment of Indian youth a horror (10/5)
Indian youth cite mistreatment at reservation jail (10/5)
BIA accused of mismanaging detention facilities (10/5)
FBI probes death at Rocky Boy's Reservation jail (10/5)
Editorial: Indian Country jails a national disgrace (10/4)
BIA investigating suicide at Yakama Nation jail (08/06)
Justice bill shifts priorities in Indian Country (8/4)
Jails on Navajo Nation among worst in BIA system (07/08)
Interim Indian Country jail report released (7/2)
Senate panel holds hearing on detention facilities (06/24)
Indian Country jails subject of Senate hearing (06/21)
BIA law enforcement official returns to South Dakota (6/9)
BIA: Law enforcement head offered to be reassigned (06/03)
Top BIA law enforcement official reassigned (6/2)
Funding levels flat in new Interior budget (02/03)
Overcrowding in Indian Country jails the norm (12/02)
Tribes lobbying against 'harmful' appropriations riders (11/10)
Indian Country jails see record growth (09/05)
Indian Country jails see increased numbers (8/13)
Behind Bars: Native incarceration rates increase (7/13)
BIA audit slams Omaha Tribe's police force (5/8)
New study focuses on jails (7/10)
