Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation Representative and CEO of Nation Enterprises, announced today that Art Pierce, former Commissioner of Public Safety, has returned to the Nation to serve in a newly created position, Superintendent of Nation Police. Joseph Smith has been promoted to Chief of the Oneida Nation Police Department.

In announcing the new personnel changes, Halbritter said, “The Oneida Nation takes great pride in the fact that we have established one of the most highly decorated, professional, and experienced law enforcement agencies in the region. Art Pierce and Joe Smith have both played a significant role in making the Oneida Nation Police Department a model for other tribal police departments and non-tribal police departments alike. Under their leadership, our police department has made the Oneida Homelands a safe place to live and visit. They have provided a great service to our neighboring communities as well; we have seen great strides in inter-departmental relationships with local, state and federal agencies under the leadership of Superintendent Pierce and Police Chief Smith.”

Prior to his employment with the Oneida Indian Nation, Pierce was a 20 year member of the New York State Police, retiring in 1993 with the rank of Captain. During his State Police career he held a number of investigative and supervisory positions including Special Projects Coordinator with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He also served as statewide INTERPOL Coordinator and was the Assistant Director of Training at the State Police Academy. Pierce is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and holds a Masters of Public Administration from the Sage Colleges.

Before coming to work for the Oneida Nation, Smith spent 31 years with the New York State Police. During his tenure with the State Police he served as Uniform Sergeant and Station Commander, retiring in 1999 as Zone Sergeant. Smith also spent 26 years in the Army Reserves and was deployed twice for tours of duty in Iraq for Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2010, the Oneida Nation Police earned accreditation for the fourth time from the highly prestigious Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The Nation's law enforcement agency is the only agency operated by a sovereign Indian nation to earn this accreditation. Only six law enforcement agencies in New York State (out of about 600), including the Nation Police, are accredited by CALEA. The Oneida Nation Police first received CALEA accreditation in 1998 and was reaccredited in 2001, 2004 and 2007 and 2010. Only 434 agencies in the U.S. and Canada have achieved CALEA accreditation.

Professional media interested in interviews with Oneida Nation Police Chief Joseph Smith or Superintendent Art Pierce can contact Oneida Nation Public Affairs Manager Dan Smith at
(315) 829-8305 or dansmith@oneida-nation.org.