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Unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities to get more attention with FBI surge

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The FBI is sending extra agents, analysts and other personnel to field offices in 10 states over the next six months to help investigate unsolved violent crimes in Indian Country, marking a continuation of efforts by the federal government to address high rates of violence affecting Native American communities.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that the temporary duty assignments began immediately and will rotate every 90 days in field offices that include Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, and Jackson, Mississippi.

The FBI will be working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, tribal authorities and federal prosecutors in each of the states.

“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S. attorneys and tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve.”

Work to address the decades-long crisis stretches back to President Donald Trump’s first term, when he established a special task force aimed at curbing the high rate of killings and disappearances among Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

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