Bennet, Hickenlooper, Hurd Urge DOI to Evaluate Law Enforcement Capacity on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation

Mar 11, 2026| Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Representative Jeff Hurd urged the Department of the Interior (DOI) Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, William Kirkland, to evaluate the law enforcement capacity needed to keep Tribal members and the community safe on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's Reservation (the Reservation).

"The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (the Tribe), primarily located in southwest Colorado and with boundaries extending into northern New Mexico and southeast Utah, prides itself on its sovereignty and self-reliance. However, the Tribe has struggled to ensure that its members are safe in their communities - and in their own homes. The Reservation's remote nature, including an approximately 75-mile distance between the Tribe's police station in Towaoc and its satellite community of White Mesa, Utah, contributes to delayed response times and inadequate policing," wrote the lawmakers.

Tribal representatives told the lawmakers that there is only one law enforcement officer from the federal government and one law enforcement officer employed by the Tribe patrolling the nearly 600,000-acre reservation. The lawmakers stressed that over the last two years, violent crime has increased on the Reservation. In the absence of a proper law enforcement presence, the Tribe is concerned that violent crime will continue to persist and only intensify.

"It is the legal responsibility of the United States government to fulfill its trust obligations to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and protect its resources and its Tribal members. A 90-day analysis to determine the law enforcement capacity needed at the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation is essential to determining Tribal and community law enforcement needs, and will give the Tribe the ability to plan for future resource needs," concluded the lawmakers.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Assistant Secretary Kirkland,

We write to express our concern with the Department of the Interior's level of support for law enforcement resources on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's Reservation (the Reservation). We request that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) conduct a 90-day analysis to determine the law enforcement capacity needed to keep Tribal members and the community safe on the Reservation.

The Ute Mountain Ute's Tribal Council has informed our offices that there is only one BIA-assigned law enforcement officer patrolling the nearly 600,000-acre reservation in addition to one officer employed by the Tribe. One BIA officer is inadequate to meet the needs of the nearly 2,000-member Tribe.

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (the Tribe), primarily located in southwest Colorado and with boundaries extending into northern New Mexico and southeast Utah, prides itself on its sovereignty and self-reliance. However, the Tribe has struggled to ensure that its members are safe in their communities - and in their own homes. The Reservation's remote nature, including an approximately 75-mile distance between the Tribe's police station in Towaoc and its satellite community of White Mesa, Utah, contributes to delayed response times and inadequate policing.

The Tribe has not assumed law enforcement functions under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Instead, the Tribe is one of six Tribes that receive Direct Services through the BIA Office of Justice Services, District IV, for law enforcement needs. In previous years, ten BIA officers were assigned to patrol the Tribe's land, but this capacity has precipitously decreased over time. Over the years, the Tribe has requested, and we have supported, greater law enforcement resources from BIA to address rampant crime and violence, but these requests have gone unanswered.

Over the past two years, the Tribe has seen significant growth in gun violence on the Reservation, in addition to domestic violence incidents and multiple stabbings. In December 2024, a gunman fired a semi-automatic weapon 24 times into a home, killing a 7-year-old boy who was in bed. And in August 2025, a gunman fired a semi-automatic weapon at a car, killing a 24-year-old woman. In January, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council enacted a nightly curfew across the Reservation in an attempt to mitigate violence in the absence of adequate policing.

Without the necessary resources to appropriately police the Reservation, the Tribe is concerned that violent crime will only continue to persist and intensify. It is the legal responsibility of the United States government to fulfill its trust obligations to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and protect its resources and its Tribal members. A 90-day analysis to determine the law enforcement capacity needed at the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation is essential to determining Tribal and community law enforcement needs, and will give the Tribe the ability to plan for future resource needs. The outcome of such an analysis would provide a clearer picture of the prerequisites to keeping the Reservation safe and how they can best be met through a dedicated effort by the Administration and Congress.

We look forward to working with you to maintain the federal government's trust responsibility to the Tribe and ensure the safety of its members.

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