Project seeks to create Indian Country crime database

Friday, March 2, 2007  

Minneapolis Police Sgt. Bill Blake, a member of the Red Lake Nation, is using a $600,000 grant from the Department of Justice to create an Indian Country crime database.

Blake is working with fellow police officer Larry Loonsfoot, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, to create the system. It will be called I-CARE -- Indian Crime Awareness Research and Evaluation.

The goal of the system is to help tribes track crime, identify problem areas and respond to them."We're never going to be able to address these problems and make things better in tribal communities when it comes to crime and quality of life unless we get the data," Blake tells the Associated Press.

George Goggleye Jr., the chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, welcomes the project. His tribe has already been collecting data and sharing with local law enforcement agencies.

Get the Story:
Michigan tribe member helps create database on Indian crimes (AP 3/2)

Related Stories:
US Attorney: Critic hides contempt for tribes (01/03)
Opinion: Misleading stories on reservation homicide (1/2)
US Attorney: Tribes need more law enforcement (12/04)
Ute Reservation the 'murder capital of Colorado' (11/27)
Report outlines high murder rate of Native women (09/21)
Data shows high rates of Native violence in Farmington (08/31)
Pine Ridge Reservation shelter helps hundreds (08/10)
Walk raises awareness of domestic violence (05/12)
Shakopee Tribe awards anti-domestic violence grant (05/03)
Tribes unite for domestic violence awareness (04/25)
Men sentenced to life in prison for kidnap, rape (01/27)
Domestic violence an epidemic in Indian Country (11/8)
Editorial: Breaking the circle of domestic violence (10/26)
Figures show drop in Indian Country jail population (10/25)
Michigan tribe marches against domestic violence (10/21)
Navajo man leads walk against domestic violence (10/12)
Senate approves violence act with tribal provisions (10/5)
DOJ awards grants for Indian women safety sites (09/22)
Editorial: Protect Native women from domestic violence (09/12)
Domestic violence a problem on Montana reservations (9/9)
Violence Against Women Act set to expire this month (9/6)
Column: Genocide of Indian women continues today (08/15)
Violence Against Women Act includes tribal provisions (06/14)
Study finds high rates of trauma among two tribes (06/01)
Harjo: Native women aren't safe in Indian Country (04/29)
Two charged with rapes on Montana reservation (02/25)
Congress puts focus on Indian Country crime (11/22)
Violent crime on the rise on Navajo Nation (11/02)
Tribal rights recognized in domestic violence bill (10/26)
Alaska wants to reduce tribal powers in child welfare (09/09)
Two grants to combat domestic violence on reservation (09/01)
Justice bill shifts priorities in Indian Country (8/4)
Criminals on Navajo Nation sometimes set free (07/30)
Tribal authority over all Indians still unsettled question (06/23)
Native women in Oklahoma at high risk for violence (05/26)
Federal prosecutor seeks to change 'national shame' (04/19)
IHS compiles domestic violence research (10/29)
Native youth victimization outpaces nation (07/17)
Natives top violent crime list again (4/8)
One in 10 hate crimes target American Indians (10/1)
DOJ: American Indians highest injured (6/25)
DOJ: Violent crime plagues Indian Country (3/19)