WASHINGTON,D.C. -TheU.S. Justice Department has selected seven more federally recognized Native American tribes, including one in Oklahoma, to participate in the continued expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP).
TAP is 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. TAP provides training as well as software and biometric/ biographic workstations to process fingerprints, take mugshots, and submit information to FBI CJIS systems.
“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.”
The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma was one of the seven latest tribes added to the TAP program.
Other Oklahoma tribes already in the program include the Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; the Chickasaw Nation; the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Muscogee (Creek) Nation; the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; the Wyandotte Nation; the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians; the Quapaw Nation; the Shawnee Tribe; Seneca-Cayuga Nation; and the Osage Nation.
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.
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; the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office on Violence Against Women.