Cortez Masto, Gallego Introduce BADGES Act to Strengthen Tribal Law Enforcement

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) led a bipartisan effort to introduce bicameral legislation today that would strengthen Tribal law enforcement and increase public safety in Indian Country.

Introduced with the support of Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), the Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act would address federal inefficiencies that hurt Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement recruitment and retention. The BADGES Act would also increase the effectiveness of federal missing persons resources, and give Tribes and states additional resources to combat the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The BADGES Act is part of a comprehensive group of bills Cortez Masto has championed in the Senate to support Native Americans. She led passage of the bipartisan Not Invisible Act and Savanna's Act to help address the epidemic of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women and has repeatedly advocated for additional federal funding to help Tribal communities combat violence.

https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/cortez-masto-gallego-introduce-badges-act-to-strengthen-tribal-police-law-enforcement