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**Expanding Tribal              Law Enforcement Power            to Increase Public Safety in Alabama**
May 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 4

In 2015,  when Bruce Lee became the first public safety director of the Poarch Band of  Creek Indians in Atmore, Alabama, he faced some unexpected challenges. After 33  years working in a wide variety of law enforcement positions, including 12  years as a captain with the Mobile County (Alabama) Sheriff’s Office, he  thought he’d pretty much seen it all. But the jurisdictional issues that tribal  law enforcement must work with are unique as well as very complicated. 

 Tribal jurisdiction over criminal matters is a complex web  of tribal, federal, and state jurisdiction depending on several specifics,  including the location and details of the offender and victim. Tribal law enforcement  officers who enforce tribal law may not be allowed to enforce state laws or  have jurisdiction beyond their territorial borders. Of the 36 states that  include Indian country, only 14 have granted authority to tribal law  enforcement to enforce state laws; and even those states may place constraints  on that authority such as limiting each tribe’s authority to offences occurring  within the geographic boundaries of their reservation. 
Limited Authority Limited Legal Rights and Policing Power
Left to right: Public Safety Division Director Bruce Lee, Lead Dispatcher Susan Rolin, Tribal Police Chief Mike ReynoldsLee quickly realized that these same restrictions affected  Poarch tribal law enforcement, negatively impacting the public safety and legal  rights of tribal members. “Though we had a low crime rate and friendly local  law enforcement partners, there were no formal agreements or laws that granted  us access to the state of Alabama justice system,” he said. Despite the tribe’s  having been granted federal recognition in 1984, Alabama criminal laws and  codes had ignored Poarch tribal law enforcement and justice needs by not  granting state policing powers.

 This left Poarch Creek and their guests on tribal land, which  includes casino properties, vulnerable to state crimes committed by  non-Indians. What’s more, the many tribal members who lived off-reservation  could easily avoid tribal arrest warrants by never setting foot on the  reservation. In addition to violating victims’ rights, these restrictions had a  negative effect on the morale of the tribal police department.
The Need for State Authority and Extradition Process
When Lee became public safety director, the Poarch Creek  Indians—whose land is spread across four counties, three of which have casinos—already  had an improvised law enforcement system based on cross-deputization agreements  with three counties’ sheriffs’ offices (Escambia, Montgomery, and Elmore). They  also had working agreements with three state district court systems and three district  attorneys’ offices. But this still left tribal law enforcement powerless to  prosecute criminals beyond tribal boundaries. 

 To rectify the situation, Lee and a select group of tribal  employees, including a tribal assistant attorney general and a member of the  Tribal Government Relations (TGR) Department met to tackle their two most  important public safety challenges. “Our first priority was to gain state  police recognition or authority for tribal police officers who met all state standards.  The second was to gain a statewide extradition process for tribal arrest  warrants. We started with Escambia County, where the main reservation is  located and many of the outstanding warrants were based and figured we could go  on from there.” 
A Creative Workaround and Support from Legislators and Sheriffs
The group figured out how to get tribal court fugitive  warrants through the state’s system by using the county district attorney as  the lead authority to accept the warrants. They then arranged for judicial  review from the county’s district court for anyone wishing to contest  extradition to the tribal court. “We also began to lobby various public safety stakeholders,  including the state chiefs of police association and the state sheriff’s association.  But though the county bill for extradition passed, the state police power bill did  not, which we learned was because of the concerns of some state legislators who  were opposed to gambling and worried that any powers granted to the tribe would  expand their casino operations.”

 “We eventually found legislative sponsors and the support  to move forward from our three sheriffs and the district attorney in Escambia  County (for the extradition bill). And to reduce opposition from those opposed  to gambling, we got the message out that granting state police powers to tribal  law enforcement would not expand gaming in the state but would increase the public  safety not only of tribal members but [also of] others in surrounding  communities.” State authority is a force multiplier, which would enhance safety  for everybody in the surrounding areas.
Positive Impact on Police Resources and Public Safety
In 2018, the police powers bill passed and was signed into  law, and Alabama became the 15th state to authorize tribal law enforcement to  enforce state laws. According to Lee, “Though this has not had much impact on  the way we police, it has helped us with long term planning and we feel we are  in a better place participating with other local law enforcement agencies off  the reservation. We now can send Poarch officers to the state’s SWAT [special  weapons and tactics] school for state certification and are discussing  participation in a countywide tactical team. Having state police authority on  the reservation has also provided us with some independence from the local  sheriffs, elected officials who can bring change with each election.”

 Tribes in other states have also had some success in  finding solutions to their jurisdictional challenges. In states that have recently granted tribes authority to enforce state  laws—Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Oregon—tribal and local law enforcement alike  have attested to the advantages, which include reducing the burden on state  troopers and county sheriffs. Moreover, by working together in collaborative  partnerships to solve jurisdictional problems, state, federal, and tribal law  enforcement can achieve the biggest benefit: increased public safety and  justice for all. 

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