Early last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior launched a new training seminar for tribal and federal law enforcement on investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases on tribal lands.
Topics included law enforcement response, children as victims and witnesses, forensic examinations with adult victims and, most importantly, developing a coordinated and consultative community response to sexual assault. Such consultation is mandated by various sections of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-211, which instructs that that federal law enforcement consult, cooperate, and coordinate with tribal law enforcement. Some federal agents on the ground in Indian Country, however, have chosen to ignore this mandate. Hopefully, the training seminar will begin to facilitate the fulfillment of the TLOA. More than 75 persons, including representative from 23 tribal governments, participated in the three-day training course.
