Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2002)
Spiiyay Tymoo. Warm Springs, Oregon March 21. 2002 Page 9 Police: focus Continued from page 1 A visit from the Kids First team, though, is an opportunity to check on a number of health and safety is sues, said Medina. In making a Kids First visit, the police officers, health and fire officials spend about 15 minutes at a residence. This is a friendly visit, not one of police investigation or enforcement, said Lt. Stoney Miller. The Kids First representatives speak with the resident regarding child safety and health matters, fire prevention, possible stray-dog prob lems, and so forth. The resident can bring up and dis cuss any' public health or safety issue that may be on her or his mind. Last year, the Kids First team vis ited just over 600 homes on the reser vation. They checked on the health and safety of about 400 children, said Miller. The next Kids First door-to-door campaign is scheduled for March 26. The Simriasho community is on the list of future areas that will see the Kids First team, said Medina. The CSR program Another important component of the community policing program is the community service report, or CSR. These reports provide the police department with important informa tion regarding particular incidents involving the police. For example, a resident reports an incident of theft, or vandalism or as sault. A police officer responds to the call. A few days later, the department will contact the person who reported the crime. The department will ask the person to rate how the officer handled the situation. "We ask the person, how did we do?" said Courtney. "How was our response time? Did the officer show a sincere interest in helping?" The person is asked to rate the department's response. as fair, goodj poor or excellent. 1 ' The person is asked if he or she may have any constructive criticism for the department. Review of the reports allows the department to identify potential problem areas. At the same time, if an officer did something good, the CSR brings this to the attention of the department. The CSR program so far has been used only by the police department, Life Skills: Addresses issues unique Continued from page 7 The current Life Skills program began last year in Warm Springs. The earlier graduating classes in cluded four or five people, but the course has since grown in popular ity. Some of the students are referred to Life Skills by their employers or by potential employers. Priscilla Frank also made an effort at reaching out to community mem bers who might otherwise not have been inclined to come forward and enroll in the program. She visited people's homes, talked with them and explained how Life Skills could be of help. Frank devel oped the life Skills curriculum based on a program that was offered through the Central Oregon Intergov ernmental Council (COIC). She took the standard curriculum and modified it to better suit the unique needs of Indian people. Frank has worked for 26 years in the area of mental health, human and social services. She worked as a treatment super visor for drug and alcohol prevention programs. Seven years ago, while working at Indian Health Services, she was re cruited to coordinate a Life Skills Self Sufficicncy program. She took the job because program funding appeared to be in place for a fivc-ycar period. After two years, though, the funding was cut and she was out of a job. She went to work at Warm Springs Forest Products Industries. Then, like is on community partnership but the plan this year is to expand the use of these reports to the Parole and Probation Department, said Courtney. The person on parole or probation will be asked to review how the pa role and probation officer is doing. Questions to the person might in clude: Has the officer tried to help you find a job? What has the officer done toward helping you become a produc tive part of the community? "The idea is that we are trying to help, rather than just trying to revoke the person's parole or probation," said Courtney. The CSR program in the future will also be implemented in Fire and Safety, he said. Warm Springs Police adopted the community policing approach to law enforcement in 1999. This was around the time when a number of tribal members were voic ing concerns that the Warm Springs public safety branch was ineffective, and even in some cases a detriment to the community. The snakebite death of Luther Danzuka in the summer of 1998 prompted the circulation of a petition that, when adopted by tribal mem bers, suspended the budget of the public safety branch. The budget suspension was to re main in effect until certain terms of the petition were implemented. The petition listed concerns including: "No action has or is being taken to implement community policing programs, thereby placing the local law enforcement officials with the label of not knowing what is going on in our community..." And, "juvenile crimes, especially crimes of violence, are dramatically on the rise with no response from our local law enforcement officials." And, "there is absolutely no en forcement action in the area of illicit drug sales and usage..." And, "violent domestic abuse is on .thetisewM from the branch of public safety..." Passage of the petition led the tribes to conduct an analysis of the Public Safety Branch. This led to the hiring of a new general manager of the branch, former Bend police chief David Malkin. Last year, Courtney, who has 13 years of law enforcement experience, succeeded Malkin as public safety general manager. Courtney is police a number of other mill workers, she was laid off. At this point she developed a new job description for her Life Skills Self Sufficiency coordinator-facilitator position. She approached COIC with the proposal, and the organization provided some funding. The tribes also contributed through the displaced worker fund. Wendell Jim at the Education Depart ment provided the space for the class, and Life Skills resumed in Warm Springs last summer. The course has funding to last for one more six-week session, but the hope among everyone involved is that more funds can be secured, allowing the program to continue into the fu ture. At the Life Skills graduating cer emony last week, Charlotte I Icrkshan, counselor at the Commu nity Counseling Center, spoke of how Life Skills will benefit the graduates in the future. The course, she said, has shown the students how to deal with trauma and difficult times. As Indian people, the students are resilient and survivors, said 1 Icrkshan. "The bonding you've done through this program will stay with you," she said. The certificate that the students received upon graduating includes a summary of the goals of the Life Skills Self-Sufficiency program. Each student, the certificate reads, is ready "to uphold and respect my individuality, my family and my com- chief, and also manager of Fire and Safety, and Warm Springs Correc tions. As the police department was be ing re-organized a few years ago, some new officers were added to the patrol staff. There are now 18 patrol offic ers. But like the rest of the tribal gov ernment, law enforcement is facing budget cuts. This year, for instance, because of a 4-percent budget reduction, law enforcement has lost one detective, one prosecutor and corrections secu rity officer. This followed last year's elimina tion of two patrol officer jobs. "Next year, we could see a 10- to 15-percent cut, but we're hoping that Tribal Council won't allow that to happen to the Public Safety Branch," said Courtney. A simple message The tribes' law enforcement agency has seen significant change over the past few years, including the change in leadership, and adoption of the community policing philosophy and programs. Of course, over a period of just a few years, not every concern has been, or can be addressed. Asked for her opinion, Arlene Smith, who was the common-law wife of the late Luther Danzuka, com mented that she has not seen signifi cant change in the Public Safety Branch. Response times by public safety personnel - especially when more than one emergency is happening at once on the reservation - seem very long, Smith said. Also, she said, drug and alcohol abuse, and youth violence are wide spread on the reservation, with law enforcement seemingly doing little to curb the problems. These are the kinds of concerns that Don Courtney wants to hear. "I have a simple message," said Courtney. "If you have a problem .with a police, officer, a, (dispatcher, an EMT or firefighter, then come and see me. If I don't know what the con cerns are, then how can I address them?" A fundamental part of community policing, he said, is participation and communication from the commu nity. Or as Lt. Miller says, "The com munity is the police, and the police is the community." to Indian people Life Skills graduate Virginia McKinley receives her Certificate of Completion of the course. munity through my acquired skills and knowledge, and to apply myself with dignity and spirit." For information on the Life Skills program, call Priscilla Frank at 553 3416. The following people, the recent graduates of the course, are to be com mended: Tammy Robinson, Monica Wahnctah, Tonya Mitchell, Kelly Sam and Demus Martinez, Timothy Kalama, Eric Dclrosc, I larrison Davis Jr., Willard Poitra and Virginia McKinley, Jeremy McKinley, Frances Smith, Christopher Chcc, Ronald Tonahcot, Virgil Orange Jr. and Misty Golden, Michelle Golden, Martha Anderson, Charles Itcllon and Tina Polk. L Danzuka: snakebite death could have been avoided Continued from page 1 Danzuka returned to the home of his friend, William Wainanwit Sr., who called 9-1-1 for help. Within a few minutes, a tribal po lice officer arrived, and then an ambulance arrived. The ambulance was on the scene for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the police officer examined Danzuka, who was growing weak from the venom of the rattlesnake.- The public safety personnel on the scene fatally misjudged the situ ation, determining that Danzuka had not been bitten by a snake. In stead, they thought he was acting weak and delirious from alcohol. The fang marks on his arm, they thought, were from barbed wire, not a rattlesnake. Danzuka had been drinking. But he was in fact suffering from the snake venom. Rather than being transported to the hospital by ambulance, Danzuka was handcuffed and taken to the Warm Spring Jail. While in his cell, he was calling for help, but the corrections offic ers at first ignored him. After several hours had passed, though, it was clear that Danzuka had been telling the truth about the snakebite. His arm had swollen up, and he was having trouble breath ing. The ambulance was called again, and this time Danzuka was trans ported to Mountain View Hospi tal, where was pronounced dead at 5 a.m. on Aug. 5. At home the previous night, Arlene "Leta" Smith, Danzuka's common-law wife for 17 years, heard over her police scanner that someone had been bitten by a rattlesnake. She had no idea that the person was her husband until the follow ing day, when Don Courtney, a po-, lice detective at the time, arrived at Smith's home to tell her the terrible news. In the following weeks, many members of the Warm Springs community grew increasingly an gry at the public safety branch. eople circulated and adopted a petition calling for suspension of the public safety branch budget Meeting to discuss Community members are invited to attend a dinner and school plan ning session regarding Jefferson County Middle School. The meeting is set for 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, March 28, at the Warm Springs Elementary School Cafeteria. Program helps purchase Individual Development Accounts (IDA Program) is coming to Warm Springs to help tribal members inter ested in purchasing their dream home or going into business for themselves. This program will help tribal members develop financial planning skills, decision making skills and will include individual counseling for those who want it. This program will help you in your everyday life in distinguishing be Timber documents available Notice of Availability Number 2002-02. Notice of Availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact of the Final Project Asscsmcnt, Road side Timber Sale issued by the Super intendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Warm Springs Agency, dated Septem ber 23, 2001. This notice advises the public that the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Final Project Asscsmcnt, Roadside Timber Sale, is available for public review. Notice of Availability Number 2002-01. Notice of Availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact of until the branch met certain condi tions. The Tribal Council commis sioned a study of public safety, and then took action to meet conditions of the petition. As part of the reor ganization and coordination of pub lic safety, the different departments of the branch - police and correc tions, rire and ambulance - were placed under direction of one gen eral manager, while two other di rectors were put in charge of lega! service and prosecutorial services. Other changes have included adoption of the community polic ing program, such as Kids First community service reports, and other means of involving triba members in the work of the public safety department. The changes have helped address concerns ex pressed in the petition. The changes, though, are no help for Arlene Smith. "I still miss Luther," she was saying the other day. Her children are growing up, she said, without their father. On behalf of her daughters, Smith filed a lawsuit against the tribes and the hospital for the wrongful death of Luther. The case was settled last year. The tribes' in surance company agreed to pay $150,000, part of which went to the law firm that represented Smith. After the legal expenses were paid, Smith's two daughters re ceived $89,577. The hospital's in surance paid another $10,000. The money is no real compensation for the loss of Luther, Smith said. Don Courtney, police chief and general manager of public safety, has no hesitation in admitting that on the night of August 4, 1998, the Warm Springs police, EMS and the jail all made mistakes. The hospital also apparently was at fault. Danzuka was not given anti-venom any time before he died. "Mistakes and misjudgments were made, otherwise this1 man' would not be dead," said Courtney. "If there is an apology to make, I would certainly be the first in line to make it." The death of Luther Danzuka was a tragic mistake, he said. The hope is that training and experience will prevent another such incident from happening. middle school Cost is $2.50. The meeting is intended to hear input on how the middle school might be improved. A similar meet ing will happen in Madras, at the middle school cafeteria, on March 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. homes, start business tween wants and needs. Here arc some of the areas of life the IDA Pro gram will influence you with, identi fying values and goals, developing strategies for reducing spending, in creasing income, managing credit, creating goals and communicating about money matters. F'or more information contact Jack Quinn at the Small Business Devel opment Center, 553-2542. the Integrated Resource Management Plan for the F orested Area (1RMP I) Revised, issued by the Superinten dent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Warm Springs Agency, dated March 14, 2001. This notice advises the public that the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Integrated Resource Management Plan for the Forested Area (IRMP I) Revised, is available for public review. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the F'OXSI should contact Gerald I Iciulrickson, Environmental Coordinator, 1UA, P.O. Box 1239, Warm Springs. Phone, 553-2421.