Tribal Conference

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was proud to co-sponsor the National Native American Law Enforcement Association's (NNALEA) 2002 Annual Meeting and Tribal Homeland Security Summit. NNALEA and COPS have worked together for the past three years to bring community policing to tribal law enforcement agencies, and look forward to continuing that relationship in the future. The NNALEA Summit brought the leaders of Native American tribes together with representatives from local, state, federal and private industries to discuss collaborative responses to homeland security in Indian Country.

Over the course of the two-day Summit in Reno, Nevada, participants outlined threats and vulnerabilities, identified the resources required to meet those threats, and identified which of those resources are available and which are needed. Participants then discussed and identified mechanisms for cooperation and outlined possible next steps in the collaborative response to terror.

Several COPS programs focus on advancing community policing in Native American communities. COPS funds not only helped NNALEA cover the cost of hosting this Summit, but also paid the travel expenses of many attendees who would not otherwise have been able to afford the trip. As NNALEA operates entirely through volunteers, and claims no paid staff or indirect costs, it uses all COPS funds for programmatic and operational purposes. This conference was an approved mandatory training option for COPS Tribal Resources Grant Program recipients.