Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 2009
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581
Author:  Carole Brodsky
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
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TRIBAL POLICE FORCE BREAKING NEW GROUND

Martin McCarthy, the chief of the Hopland Tribal Police Department, 
probably never guessed where his career would take him.

With more than 20 years in law enforcement, McCarthy, who received a 
Peace Officer of the Year award from State Assemblywoman Bev Hansen, 
has done it all. He has worked as an expert witness, a training and 
watch commander, undercover narcotics and vice officer, and helped 
the Federal Transportation Security Administration initiate new 
security measures at the Sacramento International Airport. He became 
the Assistant Director of Public Safety for the University of the 
Pacific McGeorge School of Law and in 2007 came to Hopland as Chief 
of Police for the tribe, after serving as a sergeant in 2003.

His combination of on-the-street and administrative expertise gave 
him a unique view of the problems and challenges of policing a 
sovereign nation. Tribal lands are subject to a different and 
extremely complex set of federal regulations which can supersede 
state and local laws. "Tribal policing is new to California," says 
McCarthy, and it has become his passion and his mission to create a 
new kind of tribal police force which can be replicated throughout 
the state and throughout the nation.

"Hopland is a federally recognized tribe," says McCarthy, but from 
there the story of how to enforce the law on tribal land gets 
complicated. Regulations from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the 
federal government - as well as a law passed in the 1950s - Public 
Law 280 - all affect the interpretation and enforcement of tribal 
law. The actual structure of a tribal police force is not governed by 
a specific set of policies. "Most reservations currently use tribal 
security police," says McCarthy, who are not subject to uniform 
standards of training and education. When McCarthy came to Hopland, 
he began a methodical process to bring the tribal police force to a 
higher standard of performance.

"In 2004, the Tribal Council passed an ordinance creating our police 
department," says McCarthy. "We began a strategy to become accepted 
by local law enforcement." McCarthy began meeting with District 
Attorney Meredith Lintott and Sheriff Tom Allman, to create stronger 
bonds between tribal and local law enforcement.

"We started off by hiring officers who must be trained to POST 
standards," McCarty explains. "We created an MOU with the Sheriff's 
Office to accept prisoners in the county jail." Currently, says 
McCarthy, there is not one tribal jail in the state of California. 
"We worked with the district attorney and the Board of Supervisors to 
create a policy so that crimes committed on tribal land can be prosecuted."

While this may sound like common sense, McCarthy stresses that the 
formalizing of these policies is unprecedented. Special Law 
Enforcement Certifications - agreements with the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs that allow enforcement of federal laws on tribal lands under 
specific conditions - were obtained for the Hopland tribe so that 
tribal police are recognized as federalized officers.

"We had to sue to get the certifications," says McCarthy. "We are the 
only tribe in Northern California and one of only four in the state 
with SLEC." All of these innovations have put the police department 
on the map, and tribes across the country are looking toward Hopland 
for advice and solutions to complex jurisdictional and enforcement issues.

"We could not have done this without the foresight and innovation of 
the Tribal Council," stresses McCarthy. "We have an excellent 
relationship with the Sheriff's Office - a cooperative working 
relationship. That's exactly what the feds and state want."

McCarthy has several dreams; one is to someday be able to deputize 
the tribal police. "It is absolutely not my intention to replace our 
sheriff's officers," says McCarthy. "We all have budgetary issues - 
gaming doesn't guarantee a wealthy tribe. I would just like to see 
our officers be of assistance to the sheriff's department whenever it 
was appropriate."

The tribal police work closely with the sheriff's department, 
particularly when a serious, felony-level crime is involved. McCarthy 
said he never hesitates to involve the Sheriff's Office from the 
start, and it is this cooperative arrangement that is bringing 
national attention.

"I was honored to be asked to produce a two-hour reference training 
video for law enforcement officers, on Tribal Policing in 
California," says McCarthy.

The Tribal Council is McCarthy's boss, and he reports in writing to 
the council just as any police chief would provide reports. Tribal 
court is convened for appropriate offenders, and though the sentences 
may look different, such as serving part of a sentence in the sweat 
lodge, the punishment meted out by a community of peers, and in some 
cases relatives and friends, can be just as humbling.

Because of the interplay between tribal and federal laws, what 
happens on tribal land can have unique consequences. "On a 
reservation, there is no double jeopardy clause," says McCarthy. "You 
can be tried by the state and again by the tribe." Other local and 
state laws may not apply. For example, holders of medical marijuana 
cards may be surprised to know that the cards are not recognized in a 
sovereign nation. "If someone is smoking a joint outside the casino 
and has a medical card, they are violating the federal law here."

Other aspects of law enforcement on the reservation are unique. "We 
are the first tribal police department to successfully seize assets 
derived from drug deals," says McCarthy. "This case had to go all the 
way up to the U.S. Attorney General."

"We are working toward the creation of a drug court," says McCarthy. 
Like non-tribal communities, meth continues to be a problem. "I have 
declared an all-out war on meth," says McCarthy.

His biggest dream is to create a statewide tribal police 
organization. "Other tribal police departments are looking at us and 
seeing what we're doing. "

Presiding over 2,000 acres, 300 residents and more than 800 tribal 
members, plus the thousands of visitors to the casino each week, 
McCarthy has a lot of work on his hands. "I would like to see a Joint 
Powers Authority with other tribes, so that we can share resources, 
work out agreements and cooperate with each other." One such 
agreement with the Redwood Valley Rancheria is close to completion.

McCarthy says he's confident the foundation he is laying will 
continue to grow, making his community and many others safer, and 
making it easier for law enforcement to work with local agencies, the 
federal government and the citizens they are sworn to protect. "It 
takes years and years and lots of infrastructure to develop a police force."
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