Tribe: No Back-Up From Sheriff

I have spent a great deal of time researching this issue to find out what is really happening on the reservation with tribal police and the community. I have spoken with most of the officers in the department about this issue. I have also talked with the person who works closely with 911 dispatch services in Kootenai and Benewah counties. They all say the same things. Benewah County is either unwilling or unable to come and enforce state laws on non-tribal members. The officers I have spent time in the field with say they’re letting people go simply because Benewah County’s response to their calls is, “Sorry, only one officer on duty” or “Extended ETA” which in cop speak means don’t count on me being there. Interestingly, Benewah County calls for assistance every day. They call for help and the tribal officers respond in a timely fashion/ Marc Stewart , Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe spokesman. Full comment below .

DFO: You can voice your displeasure re: the sitution in Benewah County by calling North Idaho legislators and urging them to support the cross-deputization law. BTW, our legislators are being pressured by non-Indians in Benewah County not to introduce this bill and certainly not to support it.

Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Christie Wood should be applauded for having the courage to criticize bad law enforcement policies in Benewah County. People should appreciate how rare it is for one officer to be critical of another.

I have spent a great deal of time researching this issue to find out what is really happening on the reservation with tribal police and the community. I have spoken with most of the officers in the department about this issue. I have also talked with the person who works closely with 911 dispatch services in Kootenai and Benewah counties.

They all say the same things. Benewah County is either unwilling or unable to come and enforce state laws on non-tribal members. The officers I have spent time in the field with say they’re letting people go simply because Benewah County’s response to their calls is, “Sorry, only one officer on duty” or “Extended ETA” which in cop speak means don’t count on me being there.

Interestingly, Benewah County calls for assistance every day. They call for help and the tribal officers respond in a timely fashion.

I have been collecting reports from the tribal police department as they happen to document this problem. I’d be happy to share them with anyone in the media or arrange rides with tribal cops. I have a case where it took three hours for Benewah County deputy to respond to a DUI crash.
Because the Tribe and Benewah County don’t have a cooperative law enforcement agreement, the law allows tribal officers to detain individuals for a reasonable amount of time before a county or state officer arrives on scene. The courts are vague on what “reasonable” means. Some of said, 30 minutes, other courts have said 45 minutes is reasonable. On average it takes Benewah County officers about an hour to show up to calls.

The fact is that non-Indians living on the reservation are being ignored by the Benewah County Sheriff. I won’t speculate as to why this is happening – people should ask the sheriff.

During my employment with the Tribe, not one member of the media, including the St. Maries Gazette has never asked once to ride along with Tribal police to ask them about this issue.

The Tribe worked extremely hard to re-establish cross-deputization with Sheriff Kirts. Those efforts were unsuccessful. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Every issue Sheriff Kirts had was addressed and in the end he had no valid reasons.

Sheriff Kirts is allowing this issue to be clouded by personal opinions and bias. It would be nice if someone in the media would ask Sheriff Kirts why he doggedly refuses to enter into an agreement.

It’s important to remember that Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson has a cross deputizatoin greement with the tribe since 2005. It has worked well. Sheriff Watson understands good law enforcement.

The legislation the tribe is proposing address training, liability, insurance, and sovereign immunity. The tribes would have to have officers certified by Idaho POST, carry liability insurance and open themselves up to state and federal lawsuits if an officer acted inappropriately. It simply gives tribes and the community some measure of recourse if a sheriff stubbornly refuses to cooperate wtih a tribe.

The majority of the people living on the reservation are non-Indian – only 1,400 tribal members living here. Everyone deserves to live in a safe community. This is the reason the Tribe is pushing this law. It is about public safety.