New training made possible in part by Choctaw Nation tribal member Jake Boyd

The Choctaw Nation recently partnered with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to offer a five-day Interdiction for the Protection of Children (IPC) Train the Trainer (T3) course. The IPC T3 continued a partnership between Texas DPS and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma DPS established in 2022. Choctaw Nation was the first tribe in the nation to introduce IPC into Indian Country.

IPC is a crimes against children class that includes human trafficking. IPC trains officers to recognize indicators a child may be a victim, at risk of victimization, or missing, as well as identifying High-Risk Threats to Children. IPC has been a nationally and internationally sought-after training with a record of producing rescues.

The IPC training is a shift to a unique method of training that includes a multidisciplinary approach. Success in rescues comes from law enforcement, victim services, and prosecution working collaboratively.

This multidisciplinary approach is how the course and T3 teams are designed, training together from day one to foster the team response approach to rescue a child. This method helps break the outdated practice of each discipline individually having their own unique response method to a rescue. This method eliminates delays in a multi-agency response that can overwhelm a victim. IPC helps foster a team approach to make the rescue, prosecution, and rescue process faster and more effective, focusing on the child’s needs.

This training was possible in part because of Choctaw Nation tribal member Jake Boyd. Boyd grew up in Durant and graduated from Durant High School, then Southeastern Oklahoma State University, with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. From there, Boyd worked part-time for the Durant Police Department and the Choctaw Nation Wellness Center before joining his childhood career choice of becoming a State Trooper. Boyd has been employed with Texas DPS since 2012.

Boyd first went through the IPC class in 2015. “I took what I learned in two days and applied it to the Highway Patrol,” said Boyd.

After that, it didn’t take long for Boyd to use what he learned in those two days to get results. Within six months of taking the class, he was able to use the techniques he learned to rescue his first child. “I applied it and rescued my first child victim roadside, and from there, have made multiple child rescues,” Boyd said.

This first case was an adult male with a child victim. Boyd said their story didn’t make sense. It was the indicators that he learned in that first class that helped him notice the fact that something wasn’t right. From there, he stepped back and looked at it through an IPC lens.

“I used what we call a child-centered/victim-centered approach, and she just confided in me and just kind of broke down and made that outcry of this sexual assault,” Boyd said.

After that, the Texas Rangers, Victim Services and Child Protective Services all came together to get the offender arrested and the child rescued safely.

After being on the front lines and making multiple child rescues, Boyd was promoted to Sergeant of the Crimes Against Persons Training Unit at DPS and is honored to bring the IPC training to Indian Country.

There has already been local success resulting from IPC training. In 2022, Boyd brought the IPC training to the Choctaw Nation for the first time. Because of that training, two Johnston County deputies who took that class were able to use their IPC training to rescue a child who was found to be a kidnap victim from another state.

The Texas/Oklahoma partnership is important to Boyd, not just because he’s from Durant but because the problem exists here. “Yes, it’s happening here within our own communities. This area is such a hub through here; you have 75 that comes right through Dallas, and it’s easy access to Tulsa and Oklahoma City,” Boyd said.

Boyd added, “That’s why it’s important that we reach out to the local agencies that take calls daily, showing up at houses.”

Boyd explained that it’s not always traffic stops. Sometimes, kids are rescued from bad situations at home.” They’ve been removed from residences due to physical abuse, sexual abuse or maybe just flat-out neglectful supervision,” said Boyd.

Through a grant from the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Boyd is now expanding the IPC training to train more officers.

New for 2023, a T3 course was made available to Oklahoma thanks to the COPS grant. Now, other agencies can offer the training in Oklahoma. “This year, we did the two-day training with all the local agencies, and then the last three days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, was our train-the-trainer course,” Boyd said.

The T3 created the first Oklahoma IPC training team. This is significant because it is the first team in Oklahoma but even more significant because it is made up of Tribal Law Enforcement, Tribal Victim Services, and Oklahoma Law Enforcement.

Victim Services was part of the T3 and IPC 2-day training.

As a result, the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police, Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police, Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol can offer IPC training to other law enforcement and first responders in their communities.

The COPS grant is also helping to get the IPC training to different tribal communities across the country.

“It’s not just Oklahoma; we’re going to train BIA and tribal authorities in New Mexico next month, and we’ll be going into the Dakotas next year,” said Boyd.

While law enforcement officers are well-trained in spotting suspicious behaviors that can lead to arrests and successful interdictions of drugs, weapons, and currency, this program works to expand their knowledge so they can take a victim-centered approach in these cases and identify those who offend against children.

“Our primary message is, “Stop waiting for children to ask for your help,” said Boyd. Stop placing the burden on children to ask for your help and to tell us they are victims of crime.

“We recognize indicators; we should be talking to the child and asking, you know, what’s going on? Who are you with? Where are your parents, things like that,” said Boyd.

“I am a Choctaw tribal member, and very honored and proud of my heritage… We’ve never had this partnership with any tribal communities before, and to be able to offer the IPC program now and bring it back to my tribe first, it’s a great feeling. I’m so very grateful and blessed,” said Boyd.