S MOKE S IGNALS
APRIL 1, 2015
8
Tribe seeks more police funding from Congress
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tribal
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before the Interior, Environment
and Related Agencies subcommit-
tee of the House Appropriations
Committee, seeking more funding
for law enforcement in Indian
County on Tuesday, March 24.
In particular, Giffen said that
terminated Tribes, such as the Con-
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde,
continue to be disenfranchised from
their years of not being federally
recognized.
“My remarks will highlight the
continued impacts Termination
has had on Grand Ronde’s ability
to secure federal funding for much
needed law enforcement services,”
Giffen said.
Although Grand Ronde has made
great strides in rebuilding its Res-
ervation community after 29 years
of Termination from 1954 to 1983,
Giffen said the Tribe continues to
lose out when seeking federal fund-
ing for infrastructure needs, such
as law enforcement and certain
social services programs.
“Grand Ronde, like other termi-
nated Tribes, did not receive any
of the federal funding investments
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at Indian Country during the era of
self-determination,” he said.
Giffen said the Grand Ronde com-
munity has grown in population,
as well as crime, over the past 20
years. To address the increasing
population and crime numbers,
as well as slow to non-existent
police response, the Tribe in 1997
entered into an enhanced service
agreement with Polk County and
spent hundreds of thousands of
Tribal dollars annually to provide
police coverage to the community,
Photo by Rob Greene
Tribal Council Vice Chair Jack Giffen Jr., left, testified on Tuesday, March 24,
before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s Interior, Environment
and Related Agencies subcommittee on funding for the Department of the
Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to be used to enhance
law enforcement by Tribal police forces. To his right is Bob Garcia, chairman
of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, who
also testified.
including nonTribal lands.
In 2012, the Tribe started its own
police department. Following the
adoption of Senate Bill 412, which
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treated as peace officers under
Oregon law, Tribal police started
enforcing criminal law in the Grand
Ronde area. With the end of the
enhanced service agreement with
Polk County, the Tribal Police De-
partment is now the primary law
enforcement agency in the area.
“Due to the high crime rates in
the remote and rural area, which
also contains one of the largest
tourist destinations in Oregon, it
is imperative that, in the absence
of Polk County enhanced services,
the Tribe operate its police depart-
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ment to ensure the safety of its
community and neighbors. In order
to do so, it requires BIA funding,”
Giffen said.
However, he told the House sub-
committee, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs refused to enter into a con-
tract with the Tribe to provide law
enforcement services because the
agency isn’t currently providing law
enforcement services to the Tribe.
“Had Grand Ronde not been ter-
minated in 1954, it is highly likely
the Bureau of Indian Affairs would
have provided law enforcement
services on the Reservation, thus
allowing the Tribe to today qualify
for a contract to fund its law en-
forcement,” Giffen said.
Although Oregon is a Public Law
280 state, which the BIA has a
general policy of not funding law
enforcement programs in, Giffen
said that Grand Ronde should qual-
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special circumstances.
“Federal base funding for Tribal
justice systems should be made
available on equal terms to all
federally recognized Tribes,” Giff-
en said. “Nonetheless, the Tribe
would qualify for funding under the
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Giffen cited several crime sta-
tistics, such as 24.66 percent of
sex crimes in Polk County occur
in the Grand Ronde area, as well
as 30 percent of all assaults and
harassment cases. In addition,
47.8 percent of Polk County’s drug
offenses in 2012 occurred in the
Grand Ronde area.
Giffen added that in 2012, 23 per-
cent of the 2,458 reported incidents
in Polk County occurred in the
Grand Ronde area, which only has
3.2 percent of the county’s popula-
tion and 4.2 percent of its land base.
Also, Giffen said, there is not
enough police staff to cover the
area, which includes Fort Hill and
the outskirts of Willamina, and
includes Spirit Mountain Casino
and Oregon Highway 18, a heavily
traveled roadway to the Oregon
Coast.
“There is a high and demon-
strable need for increased law
enforcement to meet this need,”
Giffen said. “Surely, a reduction of
law enforcement presence in the
community would only result in
an upswing of drug activity. Fur-
ther, although there is no recorded
prevalence of gang activity in the
area, the level of drug-related crime
suggests that gang activity could be
occurring.
“In conclusion, Grand Ronde
requests the subcommittee’s as-
sistance in securing additional
funding for the BIA, to be used to
enhance law enforcement efforts by
the Tribe and its police force.”
Accompanying Giffen on the trip
to Washington, D.C., were Tribal
Council Secretary Toby McClary,
Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Martin and Tribal Attorney Rob
Greene.
McClary said the trip to Wash-
ington, D.C., was “very productive”
and included meetings with staff
members of the Oregon congressio-
nal delegation and attendance at a
breakfast hosted by Speaker of the
House John Boehner during which
he and Giffen spoke with House
Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) for
about 10 minutes.
McClary and Giffen also attended
a luncheon where they met Rep.
Greg Walden, Oregon’s 2nd District
congressman, and Rep. Paul Ryan
of Wisconsin, who ran for vice pres-
ident with Mitt Romney during the
2012 presidential election. Q
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