[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 67 (Monday, April 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17295-17296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07077]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121--NEW]


 Bureau of Justice Statistics; Agency Information Collection 
Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; New Collection: 
Census of Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies (CTLEA)

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting the following 
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:  Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
June 9, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have additional comments 
especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time, 
suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection 
instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact 
Steven W. Perry, Statistician, Prosecution and Judicial Statistics, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street NW., Washington, DC 
20531 (email: [email protected]; telephone: 202-307-0777).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

    (1) Type of Information Collection: New collection.
    (2) The Title of the Form/Collection: Census of Tribal Law 
Enforcement Agencies (CTLEA).
    (3) The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: The applicable form number(s) 
for this collection is CTLEA-17 and CTLEA-17BIA. The applicable 
component within the Department of Justice is the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, in the Office of Justice Programs.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: This information collection is a census of 
approximately 300 tribal law enforcement agencies and Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA) police agencies operating in Indian country and serving 
tribal lands. The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (TLOA) directed BJS 
to improve its Indian country statistical data collections at the 
federal, state, local and tribal levels. This project helps fulfill 
this mandate and meet the agencies mission.
    Abstract: Tribal law enforcement agencies share concurrent 
jurisdiction for all criminal matters among tribal members occurring on 
tribal lands and, often, act as the first responders for serious felony 
crimes committed in Indian country, until the appropriate federal and 
state law enforcement official arrive upon the scene. Tribal law 
enforcement agencies are authorized and operated by tribes to enforce 
tribal laws, statutes and codes. BIA police agencies are operated by 
the Department of Interior, serving on specified reservation or 
enforcing laws for a group of smaller tribes in close proximity to one 
another. Currently there about 30 BIA police departments. Similar to 
many Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, tribal and BIA 
officers have to meet certain qualifications or complete required 
certification or training to be police officers. They are responsible 
for ensuring the public safety on reservations, trust land and tribal 
communities. They face the threats of danger responding to the public's 
call for help, often covering vast geographic regions with limited 
resources. However, although the combined number tribal and BIA law 
enforcement agencies has increased to about 300 in recent decades, 
unlike their Federal, State and local counterparts, there has been only 
limited studies on law enforcement in Indian country and no 
comprehensive regularly recurring statistical collection that focuses 
on all tribal and BIA law enforcement agencies operating in the U.S.
    The CTLEA will capture the administrative and operational 
characteristics of the law enforcement agencies. A goal of the CTLEA is 
to obtain national statistics on tribal and BIA law enforcement agency 
staffing and services; operating budgets and sources of funding; work 
activities including calls for service, arrests and citations issued; 
training, equipment and types of transportation; coordination and 
collaboration with Federal, State and local agencies; and technology 
use and access to regional and national criminal justice databases. In 
addition, this survey will collect data on matters related to human 
trafficking, domestic violence, and juvenile offending. These data will 
allow BJS to establish baselines for possible trend analyses and 
comparisons with future iteration of the CTLEA. The information 
gathered in the CTLEA-17 and CTLEA-17BIA will ask questions about 2017 
agency characteristics and 2016 crime statistics.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: An estimated 
300 tribal law enforcement agencies--including tribal operated police 
departments (224), conservation/wildlife enforcement agencies (43), 
tribal university or college police (6) and BIA agencies (27)--that 
serve or work on tribal lands will take part in the CTLEA. Based on the 
pilot testing, an average of 45 minutes per respondent is needed to 
complete the CTLEA-17 form and 30 minutes per respondent is needed to 
complete the CTLEA-17BIA form. The following factors were considered 
when determining the final questionnaire content and the reasonably 
acceptable burden estimate for the first CTLEA: The total number of 
eligible tribal law enforcement agencies, the ability of offices to 
access or gather the requested data, and the capacity for their case 
management systems to generate the

[[Page 17296]]

required information balanced against the current paucity of accurate 
and regularly available data about tribal law enforcement agencies 
operated by tribes or the BIA. BJS anticipates that nearly all of the 
approximately 300 respondents will fully complete the questionnaire.
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total estimated public burden associated with 
this collection is 230 hours. It is estimated that respondents will 
take 30 to 45 minutes to complete a questionnaire depending on the 
version and an additional 15 minutes is needed for potential post data 
collection verification or validation of responses for about 15% of the 
respondents. The burden hours for CTLEA respondent data collection sum 
to 229 hours ((273 TLEA respondents x 45 min.) + (27 BIA respondents x 
30 min.) + (45 verification respondents x 15 min.))/60 min. = 230 
hours.
    If additional information is required contact: Melody Braswell, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE., 3E.405A, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: April 5, 2017.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2017-07077 Filed 4-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-18-P