United States Indian Police

The United States Indian Police (USIP) were organized in 1880 by John Q. Tufts the Indian Commissioner in Muskogee, Indian Territory, to police the Five Civilized Tribes. Their mission is to "provide justice services and technical assistance to federally recognized Indian tribes." The USIP, after its founding in 1880, recruited many of their police officers from the ranks of the existing Indian Lighthorsemen. Unlike the Lighthorse who were under the direction of the individual tribe, the USIP was under the direction of the Indian agent assigned to the Union Agency. Many of the US Indian police officers were given Deputy U.S. Marshal commissions that allowed them to cross jurisdictional boundaries and also to arrest non-Indians.

The United States Indian Police Academy was originally established as the United States Indian Police Training and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico on December 17, 1968. The program was administered by the Thiokol Chemical Corporation during the academy's period in Roswell and specialized to include the training of juvenile detention, criminal investigation and supervisors. In 1973, the academy was relocated to Brigham City, Utah to be combined with the Division of Law and Order Research and Statistical Unit from Pierre, South Dakota. The result was the creation of the Center for U.S. Indian Police Training and Research. The academy relocated to Marana, Arizona in 1984. In 1993, it was relocated again to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center grounds in Artesia, New Mexico, where it remains to this day.

Today, the United States Indian Police Academy caters their training to the needs of the Indian Country Justice Services. The academy is designed to teach future USIP officers how to fulfill the unit's mission to "prevent crimes, reduce recidivism, and support tribal justice systems." The positions generally filled by graduates include police officers, correctional officers, criminal investigators, tribal court staff and telecommunication equipment operators. Steven Juneau is the current Academy Director and Osceola Red Shirt is the Deputy Academy Director.

The USIP were given authority over cases of manslaughter, murder, assault, rape, arson and burglary in Native American communities with the passage of the Major Crimes Act of 1885, now codified as 18 U.S.C. 1153. However, the role of the USIP was often unclear and there was a continual need for new acts to increase its jurisdiction because of a lack of prior planning. The power of the United States Indian Police to arrest whites, half-Indians and those outside the reservation of their jurisdiction were continually challenged. This power was questioned in the case U.S. v. Clapox, but the decision was left unclear. Maintenance of prohibition in Indian territory was passed in what are now 18 USC 1152, 1156, and 1161. These being passed further gave the USIP jurisdiction over non-Indians as the majority of bootleggers were Caucasian, though most of those arrested by the officers were their Native American customers who did not have the same access to quality attorneys. The 1913 Appropriation Act gave United States Indian Police the same powers as U.S. Marshals. The Johnson v. Gerald's case, 234 U.S. 422, further solidified the confiscation powers of the USIP in a decision about whether it was the place of the USIP to take or destroy Indian-made beverages or products.

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