11 FBI agents coming to Arizona to help solve violent crimes on tribal land

PHOENIX — Eleven FBI agents will be stationed in Arizona as part of Operation Not Forgotten, a program focusing on unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities across the nation.

Kevin Smith with the FBI Phoenix office told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday the first participant arrived in Tucson on Tuesday, the same day the U.S. Department of Justice announced the operation.

The FBI agents will be working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit as well as other tribal and local authorities as part of the operation.

What will FBI agents deployed to Arizona do?

“They will start helping on existing open cases that we have, of which we have a lot of, doing interviews, doing the paperwork we need to do, talking to witnesses, working with our victims’ people,” Smith said. “So, they’ll just be a force multiplier for us to help move these cases along that we’re working already.”

Smith said the FBI has 4,300 open investigations in its Indian Country Program, including 1,000 child abuse cases and 900 death investigations.

The extra hands on deck could lower those numbers, similar to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons program, which was started in 2023 by the Justice Department. Since its creation, agents working for that program have arrested more than 50 suspects and recovered 10 children. Smith hopes this new operation will have similar results.

“We have jurisdiction in 22 tribal lands here in Arizona where we’re the primary investigators of major crimes … such as homicide, manslaughter, sexual assaults, crimes against children,” he said.

How extensive is Operation Not Forgotten?

In addition to Arizona, the FBI will be sending additional personnel to field offices in New Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Washington, Utah, Oregon and Mississippi as part of Operation Not Forgotten.

The agents will be on temporary assignment and rotate every 90 days through September.

The Department of Justice said it will be the longest national FBI deployment focusing on crimes on Native American land.

“The FBI will manhunt violent criminals on all lands – and Operation Not Forgotten ensures a surge in resources to locate violent offenders on tribal lands and find those who have gone missing,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a press release.

Why crimes on tribal land can be difficult to solve

Smith explained part of the reason there are so many unsolved crimes on tribal land is because of its remote location as well as the law surrounding missing persons.

He said having agents drive multiple hours to reach a rural crime scene makes it hard to gather evidence quickly. And if there is no prior evidence, an investigation cannot be opened.

“It’s not illegal for someone to go missing if they want to,” Smith said. “They can leave and disappear if they want to. We have to have some kind of evidence of crime, nefarious activity or a victim that we can jump in and start investigating these things.”

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