San Manuel Tribe Signs Agreement with City of San Bernardino for Police Services

Under a new three-year intergovernmental agreement, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will pay $3.1 million to the City of San Bernardino to provide law enforcement services in city neighborhoods that surround the tribe’s reservation.

The agreement, signed last week, is an outgrowth of the tribal-state gaming compact entered into by the San Manuel Band, a press release issued by the tribe said. It provides a framework for the tribe and city to support a consistent level of law enforcement services in neighborhoods served by the San Bernardino Police Department through funding and ongoing cooperation between city police and the tribe.

The funds provided in the agreement will cover the cost of six San Bernardino police officers, one sergeant, a part-time detective along with crossing guards and support vehicles and equipment for the three-year period.

The San Manuel’s 800-acre reservation is located near Highland, Calif. The tribe owns/operates San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, which employs about 3,000 people.

The area covered in the agreement has always been within the jurisdiction of the City of San Bernardino, said Jerry Paresa, the tribe’s chief administrative officer; thus, the SBPD patrols and responds to this area.

Under the tribal-state compact, the tribe had paid into a Special Distribution Fund, Paresa said, and some of these funds went to the County of San Bernardino and were put into a special account to pay for any impacts to the community from gaming.

Under S.B. 621, signed into law in 2003, a committee was formed to distribute funds for services in the form of grants sponsored by the San Manuel. Since the 2003/04 fiscal year, Paresa said, some funds have been appropriated to offset the cost of policing in this area by the SBPD. There has never been a written agreement between the tribe and city for these services.

With a 2006 amendment to the compact, however, the tribe no longer has to pay into the Special Distribution Fund.

“The tribe, in turn, decided to assist the city with the on-going costs of policing in the neighborhood and did so at a level that eclipsed previous funding through the grant,” Paresa said.

Drunk-Driving Campaign Underway in Indian Country

Launched on Dec. 21 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a drunk-driving prevention campaign is underway in Indian Country to save lives this holiday season.

The campaign, called “Don’t Shatter the Dream,” is being conducted by BIA and tribal law enforcement in Indian Country through Jan. 3, 2010. It seeks to send a message that driving while impaired will not be tolerated throughout the holiday season and that tribal officers are on alert to protect drivers on reservation roadways. This is the fifth year for this enhanced enforcement effort, which includes such tactics as checkpoints and saturation patrols on federal Indian lands.

A new tool utilized this year is the BAT (Breath Alcohol Testing) mobile. Four were delivered in November to three BIA Office of Justice Services law enforcement districts — Billings, Mont., Albuquerque, N.M., and Muscogee, Okla. These districts serve 77 federally recognized tribes, with a combined population of 581,756, in seven states. The 40-foot long mobile units, costing approximately $300,000 each, use state-of-the art lighting, camera and communications systems. Each has an Intoxilyzer 8000 to precisely measure breath alcohol levels, a containment cell to transport suspects and an interior camera to produce court-quality videos of the testing process.

Tribes in Wisconsin Join Forces to Combat Gangs

The Green Bay Press Gazette in Wisconsin reports that tribal law enforcement and the state Justice Department have formed the Native American Drug and Gang Initiative, which Oneida Police Chief Rich Van Boxtel heads.

The team has developed a group of undercover officers, given all tribes access to the state's criminal data system and holds regular training for drug officers in an attempt to combat the problem of gangs and drug dealing on reservations, which can be compounded by a lack of authority, making prosecuting crimes difficult. A bill that would give tribal police and courts more power is moving through Congress.

U.S. Attorney Steps up Efforts in Montana Indian Country

Here’s an interesting bit of information reported yesterday by the Great Falls Tribune: only six burglaries were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana’s Indian Country last year, despite the fact that for the two previous years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs records show that about 400 burglaries were reported each year on six reservations. U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer indicated that law enforcement officials are not referring the cases, and in some cases, may not be aware that the cases should be referred to his office.

Mercer drafted memos to all BIA law enforcement leaders, tribal prosecutors and county sheriffs in Montana's Indian Country to inform them of the types of cases his office should be aware of. In the letter, he asked that those officials fax his office details of the crime immediately, rather than waiting until an investigation is complete.

Law and Order for Western Michigan Tribes

Interlochen Public Radio recently produced a report on how diligent federal prosecutions of crimes committed on Indian lands the Western District of Michigan has improved law and order for the 11 Indian nations there. Assistant United States Attorney Jeff J. Davis is the liaison between the United States Attorney's Office and the eleven federally recognized Tribes in the Western District of Michigan. Davis, who is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is interviewed in the report about the importance of working with tribal governments and tribal law enforcement.

Police Officer Not Liable under FTCA or Self-D, Court Says

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada held that a tribal officer who employed deadly force could not be held liable for damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act or the Indian Self-Determination Act because he was enforcing tribal law.

In Boney v. Valline, the plaintiff Gaylene Boney sued officer Walter Valline, of the Walker River Paiute Tribe seeking damages for his alleged violation of her Fourth and First amendment rights in connection with her arrest following the shooting death of her son by Valline.

Boney argued that she has a right to action under Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents. In Bivens, the Supreme Court held that federal officers who acted under the color of law were liable for damages caused by their violation of the plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights. To state a claim under Bivens, the plaintiff must allege that a federal actor violated a right secured by the Constitution.

In this case, the district court held that despite the fact that the tribe contracted with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide law enforcement under the Indian Self-Determination Act, Valline was not a federal actor for the purposes of the FTCA or the Self-Determination Act. The materials are available at Turtle Talk.

Alleged Criminals Escape Prosecution on Reservations

Yesterday the Great Falls Tribune reported on alleged sex offenders and other alleged criminals who have safe haven on the Blackfeet Reservation because law enforcement officials from neighboring jurisdictions are not able to serve warrants or extradite suspects for prosecution. 

Since the Blackfeet Nation is a sovereign entity, county deputy sheriffs lack the authority to enter the reservation to arrest the suspects. Rodney "Fish" Gervais, tribal spokesman, declined to address any specific case, but said that, in general, the tribe will decline to extradite its residents until it is able to negotiate government-to-government agreements with counties.

Warrants not being served to suspects on Indian reservations is an increasingly common problem, said outgoing Cascade County Attorney Brant Light. 

"In fact, I'd say it's the norm by now," Light told the Tribune. "It's getting so bad that we've discovered cases of people who have our bench warrants outstanding against them being arrested on tribal charges on the reservation, but even then our bench warrants have gone unserved."

Tribal Police Will be Able to Make Arrests on Federal Charges

By Monday more than 50 tribal police officers from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation may have earned special law enforcement certificates that will allow them to enforce federal laws on Indian reservations, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

The officers are about to complete a three-day training program with the BIA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona. Pending the successful completion of an exam being given today, the officers will be able to make arrests on federal charges, including federal misdemeanors and felony violations. 

Tribe Gives BIA Peace Plan for Pine Ridge

The Oglala Sioux tribe has presented the Bureau of Indian Affairs with a three-part plan for maintaining peace on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Associated Press reports.

The tribal police force has been short staffed Since August 12, when nearly 30 police officers resigned or were relieved of duty after a scuffle that broke out between some members of the tribe's executive board and police at a council meeting. In the wake of those staffing shortages, the BIA sent 25 officers from throughout the country to supplement the remaining tribal police force and added another 10 officers this week.

Pat Ragsdale, director of the BIA's Office of Justice Services, said he will review the proposal and continue to work with the tribe.

BIA hopes more police and community policing will ease crime on reservations

A surge of police officers and a concept known as community policing is having results on the Standing Rock reservation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is hoping the same approach will work in other areas, according to the Associated Press. Pat Ragsdale, executive director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said he thinks the same approach will help on the Pine Ridge reservation.

Tribal Police About to Lose Internet Access

USA Today reports that the federal government is about to pull the plug on a program that provides Internet and e-mail service for thousands of police officers in tribal and other rural police departments. Police need Internet access for various functions, including criminal investigations. Comanche Police Chief Vernon Griffin told the paper that they use the service to solicit help for basic operations and to respond to officer fatalities. Some tribes have no alternative Internet connection.

The program, known as the Tribal Rural Law Enforcement Internet Project, has operated in some form since 1995. It is based at the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement at the University of Arkansas. Program manager Jimmy Nobles says members are "beside themselves" at the prospect of losing it. Read more about it here.

Soboba and Riverside Sheriff Officials Agree to Communicate

Weeks after deadly gun battles between Riverside County sheriff's deputies and Soboba tribal members, leaders from the two sides shook hands Monday over an agreement they say will help them communicate and cooperate more effectively.

Relations between the 900-member tribe and the department have been strained since three deadly shootings and a series of police pursuits that ended with gunfire on the reservation east of San Jacinto.

Tribal leaders and sheriff's officials began negotiating shortly after shootings, meeting behind closed doors almost every week. The five-page cooperation agreement signed in front of reporters and a handful of tribal members was lauded by Salgado as "a start of better communication." Read more about it here.

BIA attempts to restore peace to Soboba Reservation

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a meeting Friday among Soboba tribal leaders, representatives from the Riverside County, Calif., sheriff's department and state representatives in the hopes of calming the growing friction between the county law enforcement officers and residents of the reservation – the site of three deadly shootings by sheriff’s deputies in the last week, according to today’s Los Angeles Times.

Sheriff’s deputies shot two tribal members dead Monday. Both tribal members were suspects in a shooting at the guardhouse at the reservation entrance. Monday's fatalities were the second and third tribal members in the last week killed by deputies in gun battles. There have been three other shootings on or near the reservation near San Jacinto since December.

The situation has deteriorated so much that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said last week it would no longer enter the 6,000-acre reservation without a police escort.