Good news from NRD. Tribal member, Lucas Vanderburg, recently graduated from the United States Department of Interior Indian Police Academy and will be the newest Game Warden here at the Natural Resources Department Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation, and Conservation.“Warden Vanderburg spent the last three months in New Mexico away from his post and will come back with Federal Credentials to protect the resources here on the Flathead Indian Reservation,” said Rich Janssen Jr. Department Head of Natural Resources, “We are proud of his accomplishments as he is the first one since Frank Acevedo to go the Academy in the 1980s.”
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs website the Indian Country Police Officer Training Program (ICPOTP) is the basic training program for law enforcement officers who are charged with enforcing law, regulations, and violations on Indian and Tribal Lands. The program is 13.5 weeks long with 575.5 hours of instruction and 22 hours of administrative time.
The ICPOTP develops law enforcement officers with core courses in report writing, court testimony, federal and tribal criminal law and application, emergency response driving, basic marksmanship, drugs of abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, victim services, community policing, arrest techniques, and other law enforcement duties in Indian Country. The training also includes conducting laboratory and practical exercise in simulated field settings.