Clinton J. Johnson U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma
The Department of Justice has opened the application period for federally recognized Tribes and intertribal consortia to join the Tribal Access Program (TAP) for National Crime Information. This initiative aims to enhance public safety by allowing these groups to access and exchange data with national crime information databases, including the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
“This program allows our tribal partners to access, enter, and obtain information from the National Criminal Information Center,” stated U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Access to this database will further support investigations and collaboration between tribal, federal, local, and state law enforcement.”
Suzanne Drywater, Senior Director of Justice Services for the Cherokee Nation, highlighted the benefits of TAP: “As a TAP Pilot Tribe, the Cherokee Nation has been participating in TAP for many years. From sex offender registrations, law enforcement, foster home certification, human resources, and child support, our tribe has been able to exercise our sovereignty, and TAP has proven to be an invaluable resource that we use daily in a multitude of ways.”
Currently, 149 federally recognized Tribes participate in TAP, including seven within the Northern District of Oklahoma. The program provides software, hardware, training, web-based applications, and biometric/biographic kiosk workstations for various functions such as processing fingerprints and submitting information to FBI Criminal Justice Information Services systems.
Through TAP's resources, Tribes have been able to share details about missing persons; enforce domestic violence orders nationwide; register convicted sex offenders; run criminal histories; locate fugitives; record bookings and convictions; and conduct fingerprint-based checks for non-criminal justice purposes like screening employees or volunteers who work with children.
Applications will be accepted from July 9 through August 29. Tribes selected for participation will receive notifications in September. To assist potential applicants, TAP staff will conduct informational webinars throughout July and August. Further details on these webinars can be found at www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
TAP receives funding from several offices: Office of Sex Offender Sentencing Monitoring Apprehending Registering Tracking; Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; Office for Victims of Crime; and Office on Violence Against Women. The program is co-managed by the Department's Office of the Chief Information Officer and Office of Tribal Justice.
