Native-owned security firm taps growing need

Having the ability but not the authority to help tribes protect their children spurred Michele Justice, 43, to create her own company - Personnel Security Consultants.

PSC, based in Albuquerque, is an investigative firm specializing in personnel security and employment suitability. It helps more than 200 tribes, including the Navajo Nation, to process employee fingerprints for an FBI criminal history record search.

Justice, who is Mexican born for Honágháahnii (One Walks Around Clan), was raised in Albuquerque. Weekends and summers were spent with her father in Wide Ruins, Ariz.

Preparation for a career in employment background investigations began right out of high school for Justice when she went to work for the federal government in 1985.

"Every job I had was related to personnel security," she said. "I worked on the administrative side and worked my way up."

She eventually held positions overseeing multi-million dollar programs, managing personnel and subcontractors. She worked for the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Safeguards and Security Central Training Academy, where she was the program manager for personnel security.

In 1998, Justice joined the BIA as a security specialist focusing on training and background investigations.

At the same time, she was attending traditional ceremonies, including those at the Albuquerque Indian Center, that kept her close to the heartbeat of the Native community. What she witnessed triggered her protective instincts.

"I saw the result of child abuse and met people suffering from the consequences of being abused," Justice said. "I had the ability to help tribes, I just didn't have the authority. It really just affected me."

Her professional experience made her especially sensitive to the importance of vetting those who would have access to children.

In 2004, Justice took a leap of faith and resigned from the BIA - on good terms - to start her own business. That was on a Friday. By Monday, she had her first customer - the Hopi Tribe.

"I did lots of time on the road visiting tribal nations and teaching them how to do an employee background check," Justice said.

Tribal officials began asking her to help them write policies for their tribes and provide more training.

"I just kept adding more things to my plate," she said.

Her company grew from a laptop and one employee in 2004 to 26 employees in 2011.

"I remained passionate about my original intentions to help tribes protect their children," she said.

The BIA approached Justice to help the agency implement the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Protection Act, which requires background checks on all employees, contractors or volunteers who have contact with Native children.

One area that needed improvement was the length of time it took the BIA to get background checks done.

"It took three to six months to get fingerprint results," Justice said. "Schools and other organizations would lose really good candidates while waiting for the results."

 

Justice knew there had to be a faster way to do it, and by working with the FBI and BIA was able to narrow the time it took to get results down to five days and less - 24 hours - in special cases, such as an emergency foster care child placement.

"As the only security firm in the country with this agreement with the FBI, our commitment to aid in the protection of our families and communities becomes more vital as we continue to expedite and improve our services," Justice said.

"Our services also became more important after President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which calls for improved timeframes on background investigations and training, technical assistance on employee background investigations, and the development or strengthening of employee policies and procedures," she said.

Locally, Justice has worked with several Navajo Nation offices including Head Start, Behavioral Health and Social Services, and the Division of Public Safety.

Paulene Thomas, a manager in the newly created Navajo Nation Office of Background Investigations, said Justice is "very knowledgeable of the field and has been very helpful to our office."

"Our commitment is to assist tribal, local and federal agencies with strengthening their existing programs so that together we can protect our communities," Justice said.

Justice is married to Paul Justice. They have three children and one grandchild.

 

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