Native law enforcement representatives and tribal leaders from across the country participated in three days of training, networking, and other educational experiences as part of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association’s (NNALEA) 12^th annual training conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 28-30. Participants included tribal and elected officials, community leaders, criminal and juvenile justice professionals, emergency planners and first responders, tribal probation officers, and prosecutors and attorneys working in Indian Country. The conference provided attendees with a special opportunity to acquire new skills and become more informed about how to better support and improve law enforcement training and prevention efforts in Indian Country.

Stephen G. Sharro, Superintendent of FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute addressed the conference concerning the hazards that threaten this nation, efforts to improve disaster response and recovery through the implementation of the National Incident Management System, funding available for homeland security programs, training and exercising opportunities available to the tribes, and tribal outreach initiatives being accomplished through regional tribal liaisons and a tribal disaster cadre.  Mr. Sharro shared feedback from two tribes recently impacted by the hurricanes on the benefits of having tribal representatives work directly with the tribes during times of disaster.  The Poarch band of Creek in Alabama and the Seminole Reservation in Florida expressed their gratitude to FEMA for getting representatives to their tribes immediately following the storms and for the work these representatives did to help them obtain the necessary disaster assistance which they are using to rebuild their communities.

As part of a special track on homeland security, FEMA staff conducted the National Incident Management System (NIMS) course.   The training focused on key concepts and principles of NIMS, and the benefit of using the system for domestic incident response.

On February 28th, 2003 President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD 5 which directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and administer a National Incident Management System. NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

At the end of the NIMS training, a final examination was administered to over 40 people who successfully completed the examination and were issued FEMA Certificates of Completion.