Tribal police are the primary law enforcement agencies on Native American Indian (hereafter, Indian) reservations. Historically, enforcement of tribal law has rested with the Tribal Council’s appointee. Using the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, located in southwest Colorado, as one example, the War Sub-Chief was primarily responsible for enforcement of the laws of the tribe (Abril 2005). Treaties and public laws mandate that democratic governments and traditional American methods of tertiary social control follow the model of the European-based policing system found throughout the United States, according to the Wheeler-Howard Act of June 18, 1934, also known as the Indian Reorganization Act, or IRA.
All federally recognized Indian tribes that do not reside in states governed by Public Law 280 [67 Stat. 588 (1953)] are required to maintain a three-pronged (executive, legislative, and judicial) democratic government. Often this includes a law enforcement agency as part of its judicial arm. Many such tribes also maintain a tribal police department (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003). Indian reservations located in states governed by Public Law 280 are usually policed by local city or county law enforcement agencies and are also required to have a democratic government in place. In addition to this, Wakeling et al. (2001, 7) reported that the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (also known as Public Law 93-638), under which tribal police who hold contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Law Enforcement Services provide law enforcement on reservations, ”establishes the department’s organizational framework and performance standards and basic funding for the police function.”
Powers of modern tribal police are also codified in two ways. First, tribal codes authorize the police to perform certain duties within the boundaries of the reservation. Such duties include responding to calls for service, enforcement of tribal laws and ordinances, and maintaining order on the reservation. Second, power is vested in the police by the members of the tribal community. When tribal members observe that the police act in a positive, unbiased manner, then the police earn the trust and confidence of the community. When this is accomplished, then the power the police exert is validated and will usually be accepted by the majority of the tribal membership. This is often evidenced by the tribal community’s acquiescence to police directives. The implicit power of the tribal police is required to maintain order in times of crisis as well as during normal times (Abril, forthcoming).
The powers given to the tribal police exist only within the boundaries of the reservation unless they have been cross-deputized, a practice that is gradually becoming common. Cross-deputization occurs when the tribal police receive state-sanctioned training and are empowered to enforce local and state laws outside the boundaries of the reservation. Likewise, state or local police are expected to respond to issues occurring within the boundaries of a specific Indian reservation and are empowered by the local Tribal Council to enforce state laws on the reservation.
Cross-deputizing tribal police with local, county, or state law enforcement agencies is seen as a means to better facilitate apprehension of criminal offenders who travel from one jurisdiction to another in an attempt to elude capture. Having tribal police cross-deputized also allows officers to receive better training that is often more readily provided to nontribal police officers. Finally, cross-deputization of tribal and local police is necessary for Indian reservations whose territory includes both tribal and nontribal lands. These types of reservations are called “checkerboard” reservations and provide unique law enforcement challenges to tribal, local, and state law enforcement officers. For example, in one such Indian reservation, tribal, local, and county lands are located within a one-block area in a town situated within the boundaries of the reservation. When a crime is reported in this area, members of all relevant policing agencies often arrive at the scene to determine with whom investigative jurisdiction resides. Criminal jurisdiction is determined by the type of crime committed. Most tribal police have jurisdiction only over misdemeanors and ordinances found in the tribal code. Felonies fall under the jurisdiction of either the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Law Enforcement Services or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
With some unique exceptions, the duties of tribal police are similar to those of the modern American police. Enforcement of traffic laws, preventing juvenile crime, protection of life and property, and criminal investigations are just a few of the responsibilities of the tribal police (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003). Tribal police, however, are often called upon to respond to cultural and/or spiritual matters of the tribe by whom they are employed. Such cultural matters may include responding to spirit entities or trespassers into tribal ceremonies.
During a recent study of one tribal police department, tribal community members were asked why Indians might call for help from the police. One tribal member reported that she would call the tribal police “if something weird or evil was going on . . . Skin Walkers, they’re all over the place . . . it’s a shape shifter [an Indian spirit].” In this same study, it was found that only officers who are tribal members were believed to be able to respond to these types of calls for service (Abril 2004, 2005). In this particular tribe, a female officer who is also a member of the tribe is often called upon to respond to these cultural and spiritual incidents. The tribal members have given over powers to the police to respond to matters once under the jurisdiction of its tribal spiritual leaders. Tribal members have negotiated this exchange of tertiary power in order to free themselves of extraneous burdens for which they might lack the specialized skills and/or the desire to deal with (Abril, forthcoming).
Some of the challenges facing modern tribal police are similar to those faced by the American police in the early years of our country. Lack of adequate staffing levels, old equipment, and a poor reputation among the tribal community are just a few of the challenges facing some modern tribal police agencies (Abril 2004; Wakeling et al. 2001; Wood 2001). Other problems include a lack of jurisdictional maps and inadequate methods to record offenses and arrests for use in determining official crime rates. In one tribal police department, for example, it was found that arrests are currently hand-tallied on sheets of yellow legal paper. Moreover, it was found that only a few types of crimes are recorded. For example, arrests for drunkenness were not listed on the hand tally or in any other manner, yet public drunkenness is said to be one of the most common crimes on this reservation (Abril 2004).
Positive steps, however, are being taken to change these conditions. It is not uncommon for entire administrations to be replaced if they are perceived by the community to be corrupt or if there is evidence of corruption among the officers and/or the command staff. Such changes have often been welcomed by the tribal community, while the negative perception of the police (often the result of the behavior of officers of the previous administration) lingers on to shadow the new administration and officers for years to follow (Abril 2004).
Congress has allotted funds to help tribal police to fund capital improvements to their detention facilities, purchase state-of-the-art equipment, provide for advanced officer training, and generally improve tribal law enforcement on Indian reservations (Native American Law Enforcement Reform Act). Police dispatchers, too, are receiving aid for training.
Professionalization has become a priority among many tribal police agencies. Many send their officers to either a tribal police academy located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or to a state-sponsored police academy. The National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA) is also experiencing a surge in membership as tribal police officers move toward the professionalization of both individual officers and entire departments (NNALEA 2001, 2002). Classes on cultural sensitivity, while a mainstay in large agencies located in major metropolitan areas where cultural diversity is the essence of the jurisdiction, are also being taken by tribal officers who are not Indian.
It is not uncommon for tribal police departments to employ officers who are either not members of the tribe, are members of other tribes, or are not Indian. These officers are learning the cultural idiosyncrasies of the tribal community in which they work. In the police study previously cited, it was found that tribal members do not, for the most part, feel that the officers of their police department must only be Indian. It was reported that tribal members respect non-Indian officers if such officers prove to be honest and fair.
Finally, most tribal police departments appear to be moving in the direction of modernization and into a form of professional assimilation with nontribal agencies. Modern tribal police departments are also growing in size and diversification. Their duties are varied, and the challenges they face are being overcome with congressional assistance and community support. It will, however, be some time before all tribal police departments are on the same level as local and state policing agencies.
