S moke S ignals
april 15, 2014
5
General Council briefed on police department
Tribal officers made
150 arrests in 2013
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
In its first full year of existence,
the Grand Ronde Police Depart-
ment arrested 150 people, handled
333 cases and seized almost $7,000
worth of illicit drugs, said Tribal
Police Chief Al LaChance at the
April 6 General Council meeting
held in the Tribal Community
Center.
In 2013, LaChance said, Grand
Ronde police officers handled 1,756
total events with 35 percent of the
events occurring at Spirit Mountain
Casino and 24 percent originating
in Tribal housing.
During the first quarter of 2014,
the Grand Ronde Police Depart-
ment is on a pace to easily surpass
2013’s totals.
LaChance said the department
has already arrested 52 people,
handled 158 cases, dealt with 701
total events and seized more than
$2,000 worth of illicit drugs.
The Tribal Police Department
opened in 2012 with LaChance, a
former longtime employee of the
Redmond Police Department, being
sworn in a chief on Nov. 16, 2012.
He joined Sgt. Jake McKnight as
the only two officers at the time.
Since then, the Police Depart-
ment hired two experienced of-
ficers in the spring of 2013 and
started a K-9 program. This Feb-
ruary, the department sent recruit
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Grand Ronde Police Chief Al LaChance briefs the membership about the
police department’s activity in 2013 during the General Council meeting in
the Tribal Community Center on Sunday, April 6.
Tyler Brown, a Tribal member, to
the Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training Acad-
emy and sent Nixwa, the Tribal
police dog, and Officer Patrick
McConnell to a training academy
in Arizona. Brown is scheduled
to graduate in June and Nixwa
and McConnell are due back in
early May.
Nixwa (Chinuk Wawa for “show
me”) is a 2.5-year-old Belgian Ma-
linois and is No. 1 in his training
class, LaChance said.
Currently, the Grand Ronde
Police Department includes La-
Chance, McKnight, three police
officers including Nixwa, a recruit,
Emergency Management Coordina-
tor Jamie Baxter and one admin-
istrative support employee, Tribal
member Mindy Lane. This fall,
LaChance said, he hopes to hire
two more police officers.
LaChance said the Grand Ronde
Police Department passed an Or-
egon State Police audit in January,
which bodes well for when the U.S.
Department of Justice conducts
its audit within the next couple of
years.
“We were one of a handful of
agencies in the state of Oregon to
successfully pass our audit with no
problems,” LaChance said. “That’s
pretty big considering we’re a new
agency.”
In response to a question, La-
Chance said Tribal police officers
seize marijuana most often because
they can smell it on people they
stop. However, once Nixwa comes
on board, he expects an increase in
the seizure of other drugs because
dogs have better scent detection
capabilities than humans.
LaChance added that he hopes
to eventually hire a second forest
patrol officer for the Tribal Reserva-
tion, purchase a canine bulletproof
vest for Nixwa, start a Neighbor-
hood Watch program and purchase
equipment so that those who are ar-
rested can be fingerprinted locally.
The equipment also would allow the
Tribal department to fingerprint
local children for identification
purposes, he added.
A video of LaChance’s 33-minute
presentation can be viewed on the
Tribal Web site, www.grandronde.
org.
In other action, Patti LeClaire,
Kailiyah Krehbiel and Jan Look-
ing Wolf Reibach won the $50 door
prizes and George Wilson won the
$100 door prize. Reibach donated
his winnings to Tribal Royalty.
The final General Council meet-
ing of the season will be held 11
a.m. Sunday, May 4, in the Com-
munity Center.
Reibach, Tribal Council member
Jon A. George, Eric Bernando and
Jade Unger provided the cultural
drumming and singing to open the
meeting. Dakota Whitecloud pro-
vided the invocation.
After the General Council meet-
ing, tours of the new Women’s
Transition House and Chachalu
Museum and Cultural Center were
offered. n
Tribal Council appoints TERO Commission members
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council appointed five
people to the new TERO Commis-
sion on April 2.
The commission is charged with
ensuring the provisions of the Trib-
al Employment Rights Ordinance
adopted by Tribal Council in 2013
are carried out.
TERO Commission members are
Bryan Langley and Eirik Thors-
gard (three-year terms); Shelley
Sneed and Lewis Younger (two-
year terms); and Alton Butler (one-
year term). All but Sneed are also
Tribal employees.
Tribal Council also approved a
base $325 stipend per month for
TERO Commission members, who
must attend the monthly meeting
to receive the stipend. Commis-
sion members also will receive $50
for each additional meeting they
participate in with a total stipend
limit of $425 per month per com-
missioner.
In other action during the April
2 meeting, Tribal Council made
numerous re-appointments to com-
mittees and special event boards.
Those re-appointed are:
• Tammy Cook and Shelby Olson-
Rogers to the Education Commit-
tee;
• Penny DeLoe and Deanna John-
ston to the Election Board;
• Michael Mercier, Margaret Pro-
vost and Terri Wood to the En-
rollment Committee;
• Tracy Howerton, John Lillard,
Steve Bobb Jr. and Harold Lyon
to the Fish & Wildlife Commit-
tee;
• Ed Ashman, Marvin “Duke” Kim-
sey, Jim Holmes and Lyon to the
Rodeo Special Event Board;
• And Eugene LaBonte, Ken Laf-
ferty and Bob Mercier to the
Timber Committee.
Tribal Council also approved 30-
day extensions for Marline Grosho-
ng and Matt Thomas to serve on the
Ceremonial Hunting Board; Linda
Brandon and Margaret Provost to
serve on the Culture Committee;
Gladys Hobbs, Bernadine Shriver
and Patti Tom-Martin to serve on
the Health Committee; Carol Glea-
son and Tonya Gleason-Shepek to
serve on the Social Services Com-
mittee; and for Wayne Chulik, Bob
Duncan, Reina Nelson and Wink
Soderberg to serve on the Veterans
Special Event Board.
Tribal Council also approved
the enrollment of one infant into
the Tribe and paying $2,590 for
2014-15 membership dues in the
Mid-Willamette Valley Council of
Governments and its Economic
Development District.
In addition, Tribal Council ap-
proved applying to the Adminis-
tration for Native Americans for a
two-year, $543,449 museum grant
to renovate the research library and
conference room at the Chachalu
Cultural Center and Museum.
The grant also would help pay for
an oral history specialist for two
years, college intern to work on an
eighth-grade Tribal history cur-
riculum with Education staff and
a half-time archivist.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno also announced that edu-
cational meetings regarding the
June 6 constitutional election will
be held April 12 in Portland and
Eugene. The Grand Ronde session
will be held following the April 16
Tribal Council meeting.
Leno said the Bureau of Indian
Affairs will send out voter registra-
tion packets on April 9 and ballots
will be sent out on May 22.
Tribal voters are being asked to
end Bureau of Indian Affairs par-
ticipation in Tribal elections and to
institute limits of three consecutive
terms for future service on Tribal
Council.
Also included in the April 2 Tribal
Council packet were authorizations
to proceed that:
• Authorized the Natural Resources
Department to supply two logs for
use by Tribal Engineer Jesse White
in construction of the plankhouse-
style entrance at Chachalu;
• Approved the Fish and Wildlife
Committee to require background
checks for applicants to become
ceremonial hunters. The screen-
ings will look for felonies and
fish and game violations, and be
conducted by the Grand Ronde
Police Department;
• Recommended Fish & Wildlife
Program Manager Kelly Dirksen
to serve as the Tribal representa-
tive on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s Pacific Lamprey Con-
servation Initiative Conservation
Team.
Thorsgard, Jordan Mercier, Jan
Looking Wolf Reibach, Tribal Coun-
cil member Jon A. George and Mar-
cus Gibbons provided the cultural
drumming and singing to open the
meeting. n
District seeking Budget Committee member
The Polk Soil and Water Conservation District’s Budget Commit-
tee has one opening for a new citizen member. The appointed citizen
member must be a qualified voter of Polk County. The appointment is
for a three-year term. The commitment is a minimum of two evening
meetings to plan the budget for the Polk Soil and Conservation District,
along with other tasks as assigned by the Budget Committee. Meetings
are on May 7 and, if needed, May 21. If you are interested in applying,
contact Debbie Miller at 503-623-9680, ext. 101, or by e-mail at debbie.
miller@polkswcd.com. n