American Indians and Alaska Natives experience some of the highest rates of violence in the United States, much of which is directed at women and children.¹

In response to this crisis, Operation Lady Justice was established in 2019 by a presidential executive order to examine the issue of missing and murdered Native people.² The primary goals were to put forward a government-wide strategy to increase awareness about the issue and to improve cooperation and responses to address it.³ In support of this effort, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to develop training on volunteer programs in tribal law enforcement agencies.

The training curriculum, Volunteer Engagement for American Indian and Alaska Native Missing Persons Cases, was created by the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC). Developed by the COPS Office to provide critical, tailored technical assistance to state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement agencies, CRI-TAC is managed by the IACP and eight partner law enforcement associations.⁴ After developing the curriculum in 2021, the course was piloted in Yakama, Washington, in June 2022. Based on the valuable feedback provided by course participants from the Yakama Indian Reservation, the curriculum underwent revisions, and a final curriculum is forthcoming this year. As with all CRI-TAC curricula, the material will be certified by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST). All 50 U.S. states recognize IADLEST certification, and 36 states require no additional information to generate credits for peace officer attendance.

Missing persons cases are critical to any community, and effective responses are essential.

The Volunteer Engagement training builds upon the IACP’s Volunteers in Police Service curriculum to introduce agencies to the basic elements and practices for creating a volunteer engagement program that supports law enforcement and communities in responding to emergency missing persons cases. Importantly, the material stresses a victim-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally sensitive approach to this important work. The course is designed for tribal leadership; tribal members; and tribal, local, state, and federal law enforcement partners—along with community victim advocates and other stakeholders. Attendees develop knowledge on how to address tribal missing persons cases and identify strategies for improving clearance rates on tribal lands. The eight-hour training day includes blocks of instruction on organizational readiness, needs assessments, recruiting, retention, training, and problem-solving. A separate block of instruction is designed specifically to engage tribal leaders about program goals and resources.

The IACP knows that missing persons cases are critical to any community, and effective responses are essential to every community. This is especially true to counter the historical low investigation rates of missing Indigenous persons. This training is one way that tribes and communities can prepare their response in advance. Training is available at no cost, and agencies can request training through the CRI-TAC portal.d

Notes:

¹U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), “Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Releases Status Report,” press release, December 10, 2020; Office of Community Policing Services, U.S. DOJ, “Operation Lady Justice’s First Report on Increasing the Safety of American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Community Policing Dispatch 14, no. 1 (January 2021).

²Indian Law Resource Center, Operation Lady Justice Launched: VAWA Reauthorization Remains Grounded.

³Indian Law Resource Center, Operation Lady Justice Launched.

⁴The IACP’s CRI-TAC partners are the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (IACLEA), National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE), National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and National Tactical Officers’ Association (NTOA).

Please cite as

David T. Snively, “Resources to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 91, no. 3 (March 2024): 64–65.