| Fingerprinting and Shaking Hands: Tribe
and State Share Information
Pearl Begay, an AFIS technician, uses the AFIS scanner. |
With a little less ink and a little more keyboard, the Navajo
Nation is taking a step toward fully digitizing their fingerprint
system and sharing their information with Arizona's Department
of Public Safety.
The alliance is the only example of participation by an Indian
tribe in a national law enforcement database. The move marks
a big shift for state-tribal relationship building at the Information
Management Services (IMS) division of the Navajo Department
of Law Enforcement.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is
the latest tool that the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ,
uses to identify, compare, and archive millions of fingerprints.
AFIS allows technicians to search databases and compare and
retrieve fingerprints to be used in identifying missing persons,
possible suspects, or clearances for law enforcement employment.
Just 2 years ago, such actions took a month or longer; now,
the scanning results pop up in about 2 hours.
Orlando Bowman, the IMS program supervisor, says that although
there are legislative and political ramifications of sending
Navajo Nation information to a shared database, informal sharing
of information already takes place. In addition, a memorandum
of understanding exists between Arizona and the Navajo Nation,
which is approximately the size of South Carolina and covers
areas in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Tribal criminal history and information sharing between state
and American Indian law enforcement entities are thorny issues.
Standard criminal history background checks do not include
tribal court convictions, and tribal police often do not submit
requests for background checks or fingerprints because of restrictive
state and federal policies or past problems with tribal-state
and tribal-federal relations. At the same time, tribes are
encountering growing caseloads but do not have enough resources
to fully develop their own independent, electronic criminal
history databases.
A Department of Corrections employee works on AFIS Livescan. |
These factors make the situation in Window Rock all the more
exciting, said Norena Henry, Deputy Director of the American
Indian/Alaska Native Affairs Desk at CCDO. "This is a major
step by an Indian tribe to not only address safety in their
community, but also to enhance the security of the country," she
said.
There is a trend among tribes to organize their law enforcement
information systems, and while tribes are stepping up to the
plate, the states still show some hesitancy, Henry said.
Despite not having any formal information-sharing structures
in place, other Indian tribes also are showing interest in
AFIS. The Hopi Tribe, Choctaw Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, Tohono
O'odham Nation, and the Gila River Tribe all contacted
Window Rock and are gathering information about the project.
"I certainly encourage tribes to explore participating
in electronic information sharing at the local level, the regional
level, and the national level," Henry said. Federal funding
has gone to pilot projects that encourage tribal-state law
enforcement information sharing, she added.
The Office of Justice Programs also has been working with
the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to facilitate
the planning, design, and implementation of integrated information
systems by various Indian nations—in particular, an effort
to share justice information among the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni
tribes.
Police on the Navajo Reservation can now scan a person's
fingerprints directly into the computer if the person is arrested
in or brought into Window Rock. The suspect simply places a
finger on the computer screen and the computer digitally scans
the print. If the person is arrested outside the Window Rock
law enforcement district, the department still uses the tried
and true, albeit outdated, ink and paper system. Law enforcement
personnel then scan the inked prints into AFIS.
Ultimately, AFIS could be used to process prints at a crime
scene, but no funding is available to expand the system. Funding
is tight already because the division needs to consider the
cost of maintaining the system. Bowman said other plans could
include dealing with Navajo arrestees in other states.
For further information, contact:
Orlando Bowman
928-871-7621
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