Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. • Federal officials have launched multiple measures to reduce cases of missing and killed Native Americans in the past year, including boosting funding for crime victim and witness services, said a U.S. attorney who leads a Justice Department committee on tribal policy.
Yet, high victimization rates persist and law enforcement on tribal lands still lack adequate resources, said Trent Shores, who chairs a group of 53 U.S. attorneys who have jurisdiction on tribal lands.
A Choctaw citizen and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Shores said a federal statistic showing Native Americans are victims of crime at twice the rate of any other demographic has stuck with him since his career with the Justice Department began in 2003.