Indian agency police

On these tribes' reservations, the Indian agent hired tribal members to effect law and order according to federal, agency, and treaty rules.

Since the agency police were federal officers, crimes against them had to be tried in a United States district court.

Indian policemen had a wide range of responsibilities, such as maintaining law and order, protecting agency property, arresting offenders, managing jails, and serving as messengers.

[1] They often faced danger, with at least twenty-four officers losing their lives in Indian Territory (modern day-Oklahoma) alone between 1876 and 1906.

The deadliest incident occurred on December 15, 1890, when six members of Standing Rock's Indian police force were killed while trying to apprehend Sitting Bull.