| Gang Trainings Successful in Arizona Indian Country
By Carla Friestad, Law Enforcement Coordinator
Successful training sessions need support from leadership, continual updating, and good communication. Trainings on gang issues in Arizona 's Indian country are meeting these criteria.
Members of tribal law enforcement feel that tribal gangs have long been overlooked. They also believe that the behavior of gang members has become more violent and that the gangs' ability to have autonomy on the reservation has not been aggressively addressed until recently. In response to this issue, a training committee representing the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO), the Arizona State Gang Task Force, and numerous Arizona tribal agencies established a series of training sessions to address some of the state's most pressing issues related to tribal gangs in Indian country. The tribal chiefs' and tribal leadership's interest is to address all aspects of gang participation.
The first training concentrated on law enforcement issues. Many of the trainers are from Arizona tribal law enforcement agencies and some are tribal members who work for local non-tribal law enforcement. These trainings have been successful in that all attendees receive the benefit of intelligence sharing.
Members of the training group have made a major effort to address information sharing as well as conventional and unconventional training topics, and each training hosts at least one new session. One unconventional training topic is the Fathers Program, which was developed to help previously jailed tribal members who are parents turn their lives around.
Funds to support the training sessions have come from the USAO Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee and the individual tribes and tribal businesses.
During the initial planning for the first tribal gang training session, support from local tribes was lacking. Since the first training, however, which was hosted by the San Carlos Apache tribe, participation has been outstanding. No fewer than 200 tribal law enforcement and service providers have attended each session, and there is a list of tribes that want to host the next training. In addition, Paul K. Charlton, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, continues to support a multiagency training effort to address the issue of gangs on the reservations.
For more information, contact:
Carla Friestad
Law Enforcement Coordinator, Arizona USAO
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