DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today led federal, state and tribal officials in marking the opening of the U.S. Indian Law Enforcement Advanced Training Center and Proclamation signing ceremony at Camp Grafton, North Dakota. Through his role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hoeven secured $2.5 million in Fiscal Year 2020 for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement to conduct the specialized training courses at Camp Grafton.
Classes will include advanced courses on complex subject matter, such as missing persons investigations, drug interdictions, forensics and the Bridge Program. The Bridge Program allows local or state trained officers to become federally certified, providing additional law enforcement to Indian country. The opening of the new training center will help address law enforcement needs in Indian country, especially in the Great Plains area where staffing vacancies account for 62% of all BIA law enforcement vacancies.
“This new law enforcement center started as an idea at a Committee field hearing on public safety in tribal communities that we held in Bismarck last year. Now, after our efforts to secure the funding needed to operate these courses, this center is a reality. Tribal law enforcement officials will have access to important training here in the Great Plains, closer to the communities where they live and serve,” said Hoeven. “This center will provide tribal law enforcement in the Great Plains area with the necessary training and skills to serve and meet the challenges in their communities, including investigating illicit drug crime and missing or murdered Indians. I appreciate the Trump Administration’s continued commitment to Indian Country, especially Secretary Bernhardt and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Sweeney. Further, we welcome the partnership between the Department of the Interior and the State of North Dakota, working with Governor Burgum and Adjutant General Dohrmann, to find the right location. By bringing all levels of government together, tribal communities across the region will benefit from this center.”
In addition to Senator Hoeven, the following officials were in attendance:
- North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
- North Dakota National Guard Major General Alan Dohrmann
- North Dakota U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley
- Chairman Douglas Yankton, Sr., Spirit Lake Tribe
- Chairman Mike Faith, Jr., Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
- Chairman Mark Fox, Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation
- Mr. John Tahsuda, Counselor to Secretary Bernhardt, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Mr. Mark Cruz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy & Economic Development, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Mr. Charlie Addington, Director of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
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