DEMING, Wash. — The US Department of Justice chose the Nooksack Indian Tribe for the next phase of a project to give tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases.

The Tribal Access Program provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions.

TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country, including the Lummi Nation.

This is the fifth expansion of the program.