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Federal lawmakers are calling for an investigation of a contract awarded to Interior's former top law enforcement official to review deaths that occurred at tribal jails on his watch.
Darren Cruzan held positions overseeing law enforcement activities at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Interior Department before retiring in May, 2021. His consulting company, The Cruzan Group, was awarded an $83,000 contract to review 16 in-custody deaths at tribal detention centers overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The review was called for after reporting by NPR and Mountain West News Bureau last June that found a pattern of neglect and misconduct that led to multiple inmate deaths.
House Natural Resources Committee chairman Raúl Grijalva is requesting an inquiry into the decision to award the contract to Cruzan's consulting group and urging a "do-over" of the selection process. "Regardless of the assurances of a clean selection process for Mr. Cruzan, the appearance of conflict and favoritism cannot be ignored," Grijalva said in a statement. "The investigation into deaths that occurred in BIA detention centers demands a fully independent investigation. Tribal citizens' lives must be protected and we need answers as to why they weren't in this case."
Montana Senator Jon Tester agrees with Rep. Grijalva's concerns. "Montanans were promised an independent, third-party investigation into the deeply disturbing reports of deaths at BIA facilities, but hiring a former official to look into conduct that occurred under his own watch doesn't meet any definition of 'independent' I'm familiar with," said Senator Tester in a statement.
The Interior Department declined to release The Cruzan Group's report, a 127-page "Study of In-Custody Death Investigations," though a copy of the report obtained by NPR and the Mountain West News Bureau confirmed that four of the deaths happened while Cruzan was director of the BIA's Office of Justice Services, where he oversaw more than 70 detention centers. Three more deaths occurred when Cruzan led the Interior Department's Office of Law Enforcement and Security, which oversees policing and corrections across five agencies, including the BIA. All seven deaths happened between 2016 and 2019 on reservations in Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, and Wyoming. Despite several serious acts of employee misconduct, authorities have never charged anyone with criminal wrongdoing in connection with any of the deaths, according to the report.
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The absurdly low fee paid by commercial beef cattle producers to graze public lands flies in the face of this Administration’s commitments to conservation, biodiversity and addressing the impacts of climate change.”
