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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1978)
Assistant Police Chief Chosen--------------------------------------------- ,------ Police and Court Personnel Shuffled For Stronger Community Services By Sandy Rangila In the interest of providing more effective services to the community, a personnel and departmental shuffle involving the police department, the muni cipal branch and the Tribal Court was approved in late July. Municipal Manager Rudy Clements announced that Dick Montee has been appointed to the newly created position of Assistant Police Chief, and that Small Fire Hawk has assumed the position of Juvenile Service Head. Clements also reported that the two advocates, John Allen and Daisy Ike, have been swit ched from the Tribal Court to the Municipal Branch. The sep aration of the advocates from the Tribal Court was felt neces sary to avoid possible conflict of interest arising from the dif ference in their functions. “For the benefit of the indi viduals facing the court, there was a need for a more strength ened adversary role that advo- cates have to play,” said Cle ments. He explained that since the police department and the Tribal Court work closely to gether, the relationship of the' advocates to the Tribal Court had to be changed for the sake of credibility and in the interest of the clients. Although the advocates are now in the municipal branch, Clayton Earl of the BIA has been requested to act as their supervisor, Clements added. He indicated that since the police department reports to him, it would be a bit ticklish to also have the advocates directly under his supervision. Also announced was the addition of a tribal prosecutor, a position recently filled by Brenda Lee. (See separate story) The prosecutor position has been assigned to the muni cipal branch and will be under the superivison of Clements. Police Department Changes Enforcement responsibili ties have grown rapidly over the past severalyears, and in an effort to keep pace with the needs of the community the posi tion of an assistant police chief has been approved. Dick Montee was selected for the job because he was the most qualified, ac cording to Police Chief Jeff Sanders. Montee has five years experience as an FBI Agent and an additional five-years exper ience as a special investigator with the BIA. Sanders views the shuffle in an optimistic light since it will free him to concentrate more on program goals, long-range plan ning and forecasting. Since the assistant police chief will relieve him of much of the on-going day-to-day activities, the chief will be able to devote more time to improving the quality of law enforcement on the reservation. He feels that the police de partment will be in a better position to work on program goals, meet management objec tives, and operate more effec tively and efficiently. In the area of improving services to the community, Sanders plans to focus more attention upon “lateral communication” with other related programs within the tribal organization such as the alcohol and drug program, the Tribal Court, and fire and Prosecutor Brings New Image To Tribal Court by Cynthia Stowell The creation of a prosecut or’s office is one way in which the Tribal Court is changing its image and moving closer to compliance with the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act. Helping to shape that office is Brenda Lee, the Tribes’ first prosecuting “attorney.” Not an actual attorney but a product of the American Indian Lawyer Training Program’s ad vocacy project, Brenda, 25, came to Warm Springs from the Cheyenne River (S.D.) Tribal Court where she also developed a prosecutor’s office. As prosecutor, Brenda rep resents the Confederated Tribes in all criminal cases heard in the Tribal Court, including such misdemeanors as driving while under the influence, assault and battery, and minor in posses sion. Felonies are processed in federal court off the reservation and all civil cases are handled by the advocates, Daisy Ike and Johnny Allen. When a complaint or a COURT CHANGE - New prosecutor Brenda Lee waited in the courtroom for a trial to begin. She CDS Photo police report comes in, Brenda represents The Confederated Tribes in criminal cases. screens it and if there are suf ficient grounds for criminal pro ceedings she files and signs an the next five years to include an With this change, as well as ing, professionalism and effi official complaint. She attends assistant prosecutor, investigat the delegation of court admini ciency are growing, noted Wells. arraignments and when the plea or and secretary. stration to Norma Smith and The changes should “help people is “not guilty” she prepares the investigation coordination to to understand and utilize the case for trial. Vicki Still, Judge Wells expects court better,” she said. The addition of a prosecut cases to be more carefully Trial preparation involves screened and the Tribes to be such research as interviewing or’s office has relieved the chief better represented in court. The Such facelifts in the Tribal judge of all pre-trial responsi witnesses and reviewing doctors’ Court and law enforcement sys chief judge has also been freed or social workers’ reports. The bilities. Previously Judge Irene up to stay current with, the tem are partly the result of the prosecutor can also perform Wells played the role of prose- ever-changing field of Indian 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act’s presentence investigations and cutor along with her duties at law. guarantee of due process to the the bench. This did not comply recommend sentencing. Indian citizen. Although this with the Indian Civil Rights means that tribal courts may The public has been wary of Act’s guarantee of an unbiased the changes, as yet unconvinced look more “Anglo,” Judge Wells Since the prosecutor and the judge. of the benefits. “So many people insists that her court is “a advocates are officers and not were used to coming right in and unique set-up” that need not personnel of the court, their positions have been placed out “I know I was not being fair talking to me,” said Wells. “But sacrifice traditional Indian side the'court in the Municipal to the people using the services now Norma is sticking her foot values. The new prosecutor agrees, pointing to sentencing as Branch. Brenda’s salary, how of the court,” admitted Judge out.” a creative phase of the process ever, is being paid primarily by Wells, “because I knew the case where tradition can be main AILTP, until the 1979 budget is ahead of time. Now I don’t see Although the personal con-. tained. in effect. The one-woman de or know anything until I step Prosecutors are not the most * tact with the judge is disappear partment is expected to grow in into the courtroom.” safety programs. Prior to the hiring of the assistant police chief, Sanders says he felt like he was “running around putting out spot fires”. He had to try to handle one crisis situation after another without enough time to develop the over all program so it would function on a consistently high standard. “We are emphasizing train ing and upgrading, making more demands of department person nel,” said Sanders. He antici pates more “departmental re alignment”, upgrading, and lat eral transfers will be coming up. Sanders explained that the police department is now in the process of realigning to meet the needs pointed out in several evaluations made by independ ent organizations. A unique aspect Of the department’s grow ing responsibilities includes federal, state, county, and tribal law enforcement duties. popular members of a small community, but as Brenda point ed out, “they help enforce laws that the people want.” If the laws are unfit, it is not the court or police department’s place to modify them. (Warm Springs’ antiquated law and order code will soon be undergoing revision for the first time since it was created in 1934.) As a member of the Cheyen ne River Tribe and not a local, Brenda is a new face in Warm Springs, which in addition to being a woman makes for some suspicious glances. But being an outsider can work in her favor, since she isn’t likely to run into the problem of prejudice or prior knowledge. However, a prosecutor can disqualify him- herself in such a situation, she noted, meaning that tribal members could easily occupy the prosecutor’s role. This, in fact, is one of Brenda’s goals: to train a local person to take over her job once the office is well- established. Brenda’s personal goals in clude going to law school and pursuing a career in legal ad ministration. She has completed over three years of pre-law study at the University of South Dakota and Jamestown College in North Dakota as well as her AILTP training. AILTP provided the prose cutor with 500 classroom hours incriminai and civil law and legal writing, intensive training which is equivalent to about two years of law school study. Fresh from the more rest less environment of Cheyenne River, Brenda is beginning to adapt to the “easy-does-it” Warm Springs mode of oper ation. Established procedures are not altered overnight and the judicial system is facing some major changes. “It’s going to take time for these changes to take place,” she said, looking up Slowly from last week’s Spilyay Tymoo.
