TULALIP – The choice should be clear to anyone on the Tulalip Reservation, police and prosecutors say.
If somebody in a police car wants you to pull over, do so without argument – regardless if you are a member of the Tulalip Tribes, a non-Indian resident or somebody just passing through.
“I can’t state in strong enough terms … behind the wheel of your car, with blue lights in your rearview mirror, (that) is a mighty poor time” to be raising jurisdictional issues, said Mark Roe, the county’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.
In recent weeks, county and tribal officials have struggled to respond to people questioning the authority of tribal officers to stop non-Indians for traffic offenses.
The law is clear: There is only one acceptable response when an officer is trying to do his job, Roe, Sheriff Rick Bart and Tribal Police Chief Jay Goss said Wednesday.
People should pull over, be polite, and if they want to challenge the authority of tribal police, “contest it in court, not the side of the road,” Roe said.
Bart and Roe said they are concerned that tensions have been building about law enforcement on the reservation, and they are worried that people are going to be hurt because somebody wants to prove a point.
Bart last month received a handful of complaints from people who were upset over a Tulalip officer’s involvement in a State Patrol-led crackdown on speeders on I-5 through Marysville.
The sheriff said he’s also fielded complaints from people upset over tribal police making traffic stops deep inside the reservation, including at Mission Beach.
Roe said he’s done the legal research and is convinced tribal police have authority to make traffic stops and are following the law.
To reduce questions, the prosecutor, sheriff and tribal police chief have decided that all non-Indians stopped by tribal police will have their cases brought to the county’s district courts. Members of the Tulalip Tribes, meanwhile, may have their traffic cases heard in tribal courts.
Criminal matters will be handled in the appropriate state or federal courts, all three said.
Tensions have been building on the reservation in recent months, particularly after the tribe announced that over a period of years it will phase out leases for some nontribal homeowners who have built on tribal-owned land.
Bart said he understands frustration over land questions. But he’s troubled by some non-Indians who told him of plans to ignore traffic stops by tribal officers, or to resist if detained at the scene of a suspected crime.
Anyone who keeps driving when a tribal officer tries to stop them can expect to be pursued by sheriff’s deputies and risk a felony eluding charge, Bart said.
Deputies will also back up any tribal officer when he is attempting to make an arrest, Bart said.
“A uniform is a uniform,” the sheriff said.
Goss said he isn’t aware of anyone making good on threats not to stop for tribal officers.
“It’s never been an issue of someone not pulling over because of who we are,” Goss said.
In recent weeks, however, tribal officers have faced at least two incidents where the same non-Indian resident of the reservation showed up as nontribal suspects were being detained or arrested by Tulalip officers. The person claimed tribal officers had no authority.
“That should stop,” Bart said.
All police officers are trained to treat people who attempt to intervene during an arrest as a threat, the sheriff said.
It is impossible for anyone to instantly know why officers are detaining somebody, Roe said.
“People should certainly keep their nose out of it because doing anything else is a distraction that could put people in danger,” Roe said.
When a patrol car comes up with its lights flashing, tribal officers may be trying to reach a crime victim or another officer who is fighting for his life, not trying to stop the motorist, Goss said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@ heraldnet.com.
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