Bill won't solve tribe's problems
The cross-deputizing of tribal police continues its metamorphosis in the state Legislature. What was at first proposed as an attempt to force county sheriffs - the sheriff of Benewah County in particular - to cross-deputize tribal police, has now become something even worse: the making of tribal security personnel into state police. We should think that the hue and cry of Idaho citizens would have caused a positive change in the legislation, as legislators were bombarded with messages from constituents across the state. Legislators were dutifully informed that the notion of forcing county sheriffs to cross-deputize violates two, possibly three, provisions of the Idaho State Constitution (18-6, 3-19, 1-21). Respectively, these provisions leave deputizing in the hands of local authorities who pay the bills (the county commissioners), prohibit targeting "constables" for special legislation (in this case, the sheriff of Benewah County) or deprive the people of their unenumerated rights (the independence of a locally-elected law enforcement officer).
But now, the new proposal trumps the sheriff with the threat of cross-deputizing under the state's commander-in-chief: the governor. So, if the Legislature cannot force the sheriff, then it will attempt to coerce the governor. One wonders what has become of the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches! One might also wonder what this proposal does to the notion of tribal sovereignty as it appears to create a "less than equal" relationship with the state of Idaho.
The justification for this proposal is public safety. Proponents claim cross-deputizing is necessary for tribal police to deal with the criminal "no-man's land" they believe tribal reservations have become.
However, the use of rural districts as sanctuary by criminals is nothing new and is not unique to tribal reservations. The problem is everywhere, even in the rural counties of eastern Washington where there are no reservations. These hazards to public safety can be resolved when the county hires more deputies and the state hires more state police - all officers with a dedicated mission and a single chain-of-command. Deputizing tribal police risks dividing the Tribe's mission and its chain-of-command between dealing with the very real problems of crime, drugs, and child abuse on the reservation with the new responsibilities of law enforcement among non-tribal members. Sheriff Kirts certainly believes this is the case. Is the Tribe really any worse off because it cannot run speed traps?
The troubling "bigger picture" is that this kind of legislation opens a constitutional Pandora's Box which could transition our society from a publicly-controlled police force to an unwieldy hybrid of peace officers and corporate cops with confused jurisdictions. It compromises the citizen's ability to know his rights in a given encounter with police. Attempts to blur jurisdictional lines are going on all the time at the federal level and must not be allowed to happen in the state of Idaho. The devil is in the details, and the details will come out soon.
James Stivers is a DeSmet resident and Republican candidate for Idaho Senate, District 2.