Riverside County, Calif., Sheriff Stanley Sniff wants to improve relations with tribes in the area, especially the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, and is taking steps to do that, including appointing an officer to serve as a tribal liaison and recruiting Natives into the force, according to an Associated Press report.
Early this month, two Soboba tribal members were fatally shot by Riverside deputies after the pair opened fire with assault rifles on a tribal guard station, according to a Los Angeles Times report on May 13. There have been a total of six shootings on or near the reservation in recent months, with three, including the latest two, still under investigation.
Last week, Soboba Chairman Robert Salgado had accused deputies of coming to the reservation to "blow people away.”
On May 16, the tribe and sheriff’s department met in a closed-door meeting to work through their differences. Representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the office of Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, the county Board of Supervisors and a federal mediator from the U.S. Department of Justice were also at the meeting. The two met again yesterday at the Soboba Springs Country Club.
