Intertribal Life Newspaper -

WASHINGTON, D. C.-The Department of Interior and the Department of Justice have announced a dramatic expansion of the Justice Department's Tribal Access Program (TAP) for the National Crime Information Center, which is the federal government's key program that provides tribes with access to the national crime information databases.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) will fund the installation of TAP Kiosks at three locations where the Bureau of Indian Affairs-Office of Indian Services (BIA-OIS) will deliver direct social services and DOI aims to expand TAP access at all 28 BIA-Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) operated law enforcement agencies and detention service centers.

BIA locations will provide some degree of access to TAP for services delivered to more than 50 tribal communities that currently do not have any direct access. An additional five Pueblo communities will work with BIA-OIS for issues related to social services. The Department of Justice will fund access for 25 tribes, bringing the number with current access from 47 to 72, a 50 percent increase.

"The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proud to grant greater access to these important databases at more locations throughout Indian Country. Performing background checks is a critical step in protecting our precious Native children in foster care, and tribal communities served by the BIA will benefit from access to this extensive public safety tool," said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney.

"For far too long, a lack of access to federal criminal databases has hurt tribal law enforcement-preventing them from doing their jobs and keeping their communities safe," said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  "With the Tribal Access Program, participating tribes will be able to protect victims of domestic violence, register sex offenders, keep guns out of dangerous hands, and help locate missing people."

Participation in the TAP provides tribes and the BIA the ability to use state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk workstations capable of processing finger and palm prints in child abuse cases, and to vet foster parents more efficiently pursuant to requirements under the Native American Children's Safety Act of 2016 (NACSA).

TAP, offered in two versions, allows tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by fostering the exchange of critical data through several national databases through the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) network, including the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), Next Generation Identification (NGI), National Data Exchange (N-DEx), National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP) as well as other national systems such as the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets).

TAP-FULL consists of a kiosk workstation that provide access to national systems and is capable of processing finger and palm prints, as well as taking mugshots and submitting records to national databases. TAP-LIGHT is software for criminal agencies that include police departments, prosecutors, criminal courts, jails, and probation departments. Both versions provide federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purposes. TAP is currently available to 47 tribes nationwide with over 220 tribal criminal justice and civil agencies participating. 

All 28 BIA-OJS agencies, which include detention centers, will have access to TAP. Through these agencies, BIA law enforcement provides service and support to 64 tribes, and of these tribes, 53 tribes do not currently have any direct access to TAP.

TAP is managed by the Justice Department's chief information officer with assistance from the Office of Tribal Justice to provide specialized training and assistance for participating tribes as well as a 24/7 help desk. More information about specific tribal access is available at: https://www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.