The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is one of ten tribes in western Washington receiving grant funds from the U.S. Department of Justice to enhance tribal law enforcement services.

U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran of the Justice Department announced on Oct. 8 that 10 western Washington tribes would be included in a $13 million grant fund to strengthen tribal law enforcement and provide services to victims of crimes.

One notable portion of the grant will fund the hiring of a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northwestern Washington Safe Trails Task Force, to prosecute crime in tribal communities. The $482,419, three-year grant was awarded to the Swinomish Tribal Community, though the attorney will prosecute cases for a consortium of tribes located throughout northwest Washington.

“These grants provide a wide range of services in our tribal communities – everything from services for crime victims, to sex offender monitoring, to reducing alcohol and drug-related crime,” Moran said. “It is a competitive process to obtain these grants, and I congratulate our tribal partners on their successful applications.”

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe was awarded three grants totaling nearly $1.5 million. A grant for $898,000 will go towards enhancing the tribal justice system; $491,542 to support victims of crime and $108,750 to enhance sex offender monitoring.

The grants were awarded by a variety of DOJ agencies including the Office of Victims of Crime, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.