25 U.S.C. § 2801: Definitions

The term “Branch of Criminal Investigations” means the entity the Secretary is required to establish within the Office of Justice Services under section 2802(d)(1) of this title . The term “Bureau” means the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior. The term “employee of the Bureau” includes an officer of the Bureau. The term “enforcement of a law” includes the prevention, detection, and investigation of an offense and the detention or confinement of an offender. The term “Indian country” has the meaning given that term in section 1151 of title 18 . The term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given that term in section 1301 of this title . The term “offense” means an offense against the United States and includes a violation of a Federal regulation relating to part or all of Indian country. The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior. a tribal prosecutor; a tribal law enforcement officer; or any other person responsible for investigating or prosecuting an alleged criminal offense in tribal court. the United States has distinct legal, treaty, and trust obligations to provide for the public safety of Indian country; tribal law enforcement officers are often the first responders to crimes on Indian reservations; and tribal justice systems are often the most appropriate institutions for maintaining law and order in Indian country; less than 3,000 tribal and Federal law enforcement officers patrol more than 56,000,000 acres of Indian country, which reflects less than ½ of the law enforcement presence in comparable rural communities nationwide; has a significant negative impact on the ability to provide public safety to Indian communities; has been increasingly exploited by criminals; and requires a high degree of commitment and cooperation among tribal, Federal, and State law enforcement officials; domestic and sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women has reached epidemic proportions; 34 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes; and 39 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be subject to domestic violence; Indian tribes have faced significant increases in instances of domestic violence, burglary, assault, and child abuse as a direct result of increased methamphetamine use on Indian reservations; and crime data is a fundamental tool of law enforcement, but for decades the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Justice have not been able to coordinate or consistently report crime and prosecution rates in tribal communities. to clarify the responsibilities of Federal, State, tribal, and local governments with respect to crimes committed in Indian country; to increase coordination and communication among Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies; to empower tribal governments with the authority, resources, and information necessary to safely and effectively provide public safety in Indian country; to reduce the prevalence of violent crime in Indian country and to combat sexual and domestic violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women; to prevent drug trafficking and reduce rates of alcohol and drug addiction in Indian country; and to increase and standardize the collection of criminal data and the sharing of criminal history information among Federal, State, and tribal officials responsible for responding to and investigating crimes in Indian country.” The term ‘Indian country’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 of title 18 , United States Code. The term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 479a ) [now 25 U.S.C. 5130 ]. The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of the Interior. The term ‘tribal government’ means the governing body of a federally recognized Indian tribe.”