Tester Presses Biden Administration to Meet Public Safety Demands in Indian Country, Address Shortage of Tribal Law Enforcement Officers 

Senator in letter to head of GAO: “The status quo of BIA’s public safety efforts in Montana is unacceptable and simply cannot continue” 

U.S. Senator Jon Tester sent a letter to Comptroller General and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Gene L. Dodaro urging an outside review of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) efforts to ensure Tribes in Montana have safe living environments, citing BIA’s current public safety efforts as “unacceptable.”

In his letter, Tester began by highlighting the concerns that he has heard when meeting with Tribes in Montana: “I write today because I am deeply concerned that the United States is not living up to its trust and treaty obligations to help Tribal governments meet public safety demands on reservations in Montana.  In recent weeks, I have had direct conversations with leaders from nearly all of the Tribes in Montana to discuss the public safety challenges facing Indian Country… The status quo of BIA’s public safety efforts in Montana is unacceptable and simply cannot continue.”

Tester continued to specifically emphasize the shortage of Tribal law enforcement officers: “While there are many shortcomings to discuss, none are more clear than the extreme lack of trained law enforcement officers on each reservation.  The insufficient staffing levels have a severe impact in states like Montana with large land-based Tribes.”

Tester continued: “These officers are putting their lives on the line and working every day to keep their communities safe, but BIA must ensure they have the staffing and resources they need to do their job.”

Tester concluded his letter by highlighting his recent work to ensure BIA has adequate resources and calling on the GAO to improve BIA: “Through my seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am working to ensure that the BIA has sufficient resources to hire officers and bolster other public safety activities.  In fact, I recently secured substantial increases to several BIA accounts in the Fiscal Year 2025 Senate appropriations bills. I will keep fighting for these critical funds, but it is clear that more oversight is required to make sure these funds are being used effectively.”

As the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Tester has consistently fought to provide Tribal governments and organizations with the resources they need to reduce crime and tackle the MMIP epidemic. In May, Tester led a bipartisan letter to his colleagues, urging them to support robust funding for Tribal law enforcement in upcoming appropriations. In March, Tester urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to use full force of the Department of Justice to combat the growing cartel presence and fentanyl trafficking in Tribal communities. He led the Senate passage of Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, both of which were signed into law in October of 2020, improving information sharing and collaboration between Tribal and federal law enforcement agencies. Tester also recently secured $600 million to improve public safety in Indian Country as part of the 2024 government funding bill.

Read Tester’s full letter to Comptroller General Dodaro HERE.