The Northern Cheyenne Tribe has sued the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its regional office, claiming the bureau has hindered the tribeâs efforts to assume control of law enforcement on its reservation.
The suit, filed Tuesday in U. S. District Court, stems from years of not having an adequate police and criminal investigation force on the reservation. Over the summer and into the fall, the tribe alleges the BIA unlawfully denied and delayed proposals for the Northern Cheyenne to take over certain aspects of policing the tribe s land.Â
âThe Tribe has been dissatisfied with the level of law enforcement service provided by the Bureau for several years and has attempted to work with the Bureau to address the issues, including a lack of qualified officers assigned to the Reservation and a lack of adequate criminal investigations,â the lawsuit says.