Beware of the federal task force. While a combined law enforcement entity might make sense in combatting crime in non-tribal communities, the federal task force is a Trojan Horse when it enters Indian country. That is because hiding within the federal task force are state and local cops, which under auspices of criminal law enforcement, are looking to extract monies from tribal lands—in multiple ways.

The Department of Justice and its FBI and Marshals Service are increasingly recruiting state and local cops to so-called fugitive and other task forces. According to the Marshals: “The purpose of regional fugitive task forces is to combine the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and assist in high profile investigations.” While that certainly sounds noble, and Indian country generally needs all the police help it can get, federal task forces are problematic for tribal communities.