LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Justice Department has selected seven additional federally recognized tribes, including the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation that spans Nevada and Idaho, to participate in the continued expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information, known as TAP.
TAP provides tribal governments with the means to access, enter and exchange data with national crime information systems, including those maintained by the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division. With this expansion, the program now supports 159 tribes and more than 500 tribal government agencies, according to the Justice Department.
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Program purpose
“The Justice Department is pleased to continue its expansion of the Tribal Access Program, which equips Tribal governments with federal crime data to solve crimes, conduct background checks, and identify wanted predators,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. “These are the tools Tribal governments need to protect and serve their communities, which in turn strengthens the rule of law and public safety for families and children in Indian Country.”
TAP provides training as well as software and biometric and biographic workstations to process fingerprints, take mugshots and submit information to FBI CJIS systems.
The Justice Department 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, entered orders that prevent dangerous prohibited persons from obtaining firearms, 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 additional tribes have been selected for participation in TAP:
- Cahuilla Band of Indians (California)
- Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (Maine)
- Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma (Oklahoma)
- Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Minnesota)
- Pechanga Band of Indians (California)
- Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation (Nevada and Idaho)
- Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California (California)
More information on TAP is available at here.
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