Tribal Law Enforcement expert hired to coordinate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Program in Washington

Seattle - U.S. Attorneys Brian T. Moran and William D. Hyslop are pleased to announce the selection of David J. Rogers to serve as the program coordinator of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person program for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Washington State.  David Rogers has an extensive career in law enforcement as a Police Chief, consultant, trainer, lecturer, and educator.

“I am so pleased to have David fill this important role, moving our state forward in investigations of missing persons cases involving our tribal communities,” said U.S. Attorney Moran.  “As an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, with deep experience and contacts in Pacific Northwest tribal communities, he is ideally qualified to work with our tribal partners to increase safety and security in Indian Country.”

“The problem of missing persons and murders occurring within our tribal nations in Washington State and in other parts of the Country is real,” said U.S. Attorney Hyslop.  “David Rogers has broad experience in Tribal law enforcement.  He will be working exclusively on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous persons.  I expect him to have frequent contact with Tribal leaders, law enforcement officers, and victim/witnesses within Indian Country in the State of Washington as we all work together to address this problem.”

For the past four years, David Rogers has run his own consulting firm, Tribal Public Safety Innovations LLC, involved in the training of tribal police and probation officers across the country.  From 2013 to 2016, Chief Rogers served as Chief of Police for the Nez Perce Tribal Police in Lapwai, Idaho.  As Tribal Police Chief, he was responsible for a 24-person department covering a 1,200 square-mile-area of jurisdiction.  From 2003-2013, Chief Rogers was the Tribal Public Safety Manager at the Criminal Justice Center for Innovation at the National Criminal Justice Training Center in Wisconsin.  In that role he developed and implemented training for law enforcement officers in tribal police forces across the country and served as Director of the National Indian Youth Police Academy introducing Native American youth to careers in the Criminal Justice field. 

Prior to his position with the Criminal Justice Center for Innovation, Chief Rogers served as a program manager at the Western Community Policing Institute at Western Oregon University.  While there, he was a key trainer on U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing programs for more than 200 tribal communities across the country.  Early in his law enforcement career, Chief Rogers served on police forces in Clark County, Washington; Multnomah County, Oregon; Latah County, Idaho; and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Enforcement, Hood River, Oregon.  

U.S. Attorney William Barr announced the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Person Initiative in November 2019, and the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington joined forces to hire a coordinator who could lead the initiative in all 29 tribal communities in Washington.  As the MMIP coordinator, Chief Rogers will work closely with federal, tribal, state, and local agencies to develop common protocols and procedure for responding to reports of missing or murdered indigenous people.  Chief Rogers will work closely with the Tribal Liaisons in both the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington, as well as state and local partners, working on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous persons.