Tribal-police bill nearing passage

YAKIMA — While parts of the Lower Valley suffer from some of the state's worst drunken-driving rates, about a third of police officers there are barred from arresting most people. Welcome to the Yakama reservation, a jurisdictional checkerboard where the tribe's roughly 20 police officers can only arrest tribal members.

Given the vastness of the area and its high crime rate, the idea of extending conventional police powers to tribal officers would seem to have widespread appeal.

Such a plan has been used for decades on the Colville reservation in northeast Washington, where tribal police are commissioned by both Okanogan and Ferry counties.

Many state lawmakers like the idea. A measure that would give tribal police officers who meet certain requirements the same powers as other police cleared the House 58-37 and is making its way through the Senate, where it is expected to be approved this week and sent to the governor's office.

But the idea isn't embraced by several sheriffs and most of Central Washington's lawmakers. They fear that tribal sovereignty would allow tribal police to avoid accountability and liability.

Some Yakama tribal leaders say they like the bill, but they note it couldn't be carried out overnight.

More visitors, more crimes on reservations

Across the state, many tribal leaders say their casinos and other businesses are drawing more non-Indians than ever to reservations, and tribal police want some authority over them.

Rural reservations are seeing a rise in meth labs, marijuana farms, theft and drunken driving, said state Rep. John McCoy, a Tulalip tribal member from Snohomish County who is sponsoring the bill.

Yet because tribes answer to the federal government rather than the state, their police have jurisdiction only over tribal members. They can detain non-Indians committing crimes on a reservation, but must wait until city, county or state authorities arrive to make an arrest.

Slightly intoxicated non-Indian motorists have been released with just a verbal warning because they'd probably be legally sober by the time a state-commissioned officer arrived, said McCoy, a Democrat.

"They should be able to apprehend these guys instead of having to wait for a sheriff," McCoy said. "That tribal officer can only detain someone for so long, and then they have to let them go."

Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Ralph Sampson Jr. said the bill would provide more public safety on the 1.2-million-acre Yakama reservation.

"Logistically, it would help," he said. "You look around — there aren't too many deputies."

But if the legislation, House Bill 2476, becomes law, the tribe would still have to find ways to pay the cost of obtaining state certification for its police as required by the proposed law. Tribal police are now trained by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe also would be required to obtain liability insurance for its officers.

Testifying against the bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin said it raises questions of liability and accountability.

Cities and counties can be sued when their police err. Tribes, which are recognized as sovereign nations, are not required to respond to complaints from nontribal members. McCoy's bill requires tribal accountability. But Irwin says nontribal members could have difficulty bringing complaints to a tribe.

"When you're dealing with law enforcement, a sovereign nation and people's rights, there needs to be specific ground rules rather than hopes that it will be figured out in a back room somewhere," he said. "These are questions that still need to be answered."

The Washington State Sheriffs Association opposes the bill. And so do many residents, Irwin said.

"Quite frankly, there are some citizens out there that feel very strongly against any sort of tribal authority having anything to do with them, and we need to get beyond that," he said.

The sovereignty issue was raised in 1994, when a tribal officer speeding to a robbery ran a stop light and fatally struck another motorist, Jared Gamache.

Because the Yakama Nation isn't subject to state authority, the Gamache family decided against filing a civil lawsuit against the tribe.

McCoy's bill requires tribes to waive their sovereign immunity in cases involving tribal police.

"It could help"

Police in Toppenish and Wapato, which are surrounded by the Yakama reservation, see merit in the bill.

"Sounds like to me it's giving us more cops," said Toppenish Sgt. Jake Church. "It could help."

But he said he'd like to see city police have more authority over tribal members in town. As it is, city police have jurisdiction over tribal members only in cases involving criminal offenses, but not civil infractions such as driving without wearing a seat belt or not having children secured in a car seat.

Church said tribal and nontribal police generally work well together, backing each other up and holding serious offenders until authorities with proper jurisdiction arrive.

Once, all police officers on the reservation were cross-commissioned. But former Yakima County Sheriff Doug Blair, now deputy director of the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, said stiffer state requirements forced him to eliminate the cross-commissioning in the 1980s.

"We worked hand-in-hand down there," he said. "We'd get out there, work the case together and later figured out jurisdiction.

"The tough part is, everything is fine unless something goes backwards. And if something goes wrong, then who's responsible?" Blair said. "It's usually the one that issues the commission. If you're not willing to pay the bill, then don't issue the commission."

Works on Colville rez

Some sheriffs still commission tribal-police officers with the same power as deputies, such as Colville tribal officers.

The Colville reservation, like Yakama, covers a broad swath of land, covering 2,116 square miles.

"We're the poorest county in Washington, so it has become a necessity for us to partner," said Ferry County Sheriff Pete Warner. "We cannot cover this entire county with five deputies. I haven't had any problems. I've backed them up, they've backed us up and that's the way it should be."

Acting Colville tribal police Chief Cory Orr said his officers automatically attend the state's two-week equivalency certification class once they complete the BIA academy. They then are commissioned by the sheriff.

"It's a phenomenal system we have up here," he said. "Basically, the sheriffs have 25 extra deputies up here."

McCoy describes the Colville working relationship as a model for the state, adding that at least three other states — New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas — have similar laws in place dealing with such cross-commissions.

McCoy said the issues Irwin and other sheriffs are raising about his bill come more from a lack of trust than anything else.

"In my opinion, that's what it all boils down to, trust," he said. "I can't legislate trust. I just can't do it."