Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Local law enforcement and political leaders agreed on one issue when they testified before a legislative committee in Helena Thursday: Racial profiling by law enforcement is something that must not happen. “It is very important to me that racial profiling is not happening, that we are doing the job with honesty and integrity, doing the job that is fair to all,” said Hill County Sheriff Greg Szudera, during an interim meeting of the State-Tribal Relations Committee meeting in Helena Thursday. But the committee, whose meeting was broadcast live via the Internet, was told that there is evidence that profiling does occur. Blaine County Commissioner Dolores Plumage, the first Native American commissioner in the county’s history, said law enforcement seems to be more likely to watch Native Americans. For example, she said, Native American events, including powwows and even basketball games with teams from reservation schools, typically have more law enforcement coverage than events with fewer Indians. “(Non-Indians) are less likely to be under scrutiny than when Indians are at events and I think we have to be more fair about it,” Plumage said.” Laws prohibiting profiling Much of the discussion was about law enforcement following laws passed by Sen. Frank Smith, D-Poplar, the chair of the State-Tribal Relations Committee, and Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Rocky Boy, a committee member. Smith sponsored a bill prohibiting racial profiling in 2003, while Windy Boy sponsored a bill requiring law enforcement to collect and track data to make sure officers are not profiling in 2007. Windy Boy told the committee that Native Americans experience profiling including far more than just being closely watched by law enforcement. It impacts the courts and everyday life, he said. He has experienced it himself, Windy Boy added. “It’s pretty tough to be on the receiving end,” Windy Boy said. “It’s tough to walk into a store and be followed by the clerks.” Helena Mayor Jim Smith, representing the Montana Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association, said the laws have brought attention to the issue and may help resolve problems. That is what the association wants, he added. “I think the conclusion of the sheriffs is they want to be in the letter and spirit of the law ,” he said. “If racial profiling is going on in an office it has to stop. The officer has to Stop or find another line of work.” Data being collected Smith said that data gathering is proceeding, but is also leading to difficulties. He cited a Havre Daily News article published in the July 8 edition releasing information from the Havre Police Department. In the article, Havre Police Chief Jerry Nystrom listed data showing the number of arrests with the race of the person arrested showed that the majority are white 95 of 680 arrests were of Native Americans but 198 of the arrests have no race identified. “Why that happened, I don’t know,” Smith said. “We have to find that out.” Part of the problem is how the race is identified. Smith said the law enforcement officers have to decide that themselves. “That’s a sticky wicket. Law enforcement officers have to make an educated guess or judgment call on the race of the individual,” Smith said. “Generally, law enforcement officers don’t want to do that. It puts them in kind of a funny position. But they are doing it. They don’t like it but they are doing it.” When asked by Rep. Joey Jayne, D-Arlee, why they can’t ask the individual what their race is, Smith replied that they are told not to. “I don’t have a good answer for you except they are told they aren’t supposed to ask,” he said. Complicated situations Smith also said that the meaning of data collected could be difficult to decipher, and situations may not be as they appear. He cited a Missoulian article showing that it appears that the number of African-Americans arrested in the city is growing, which could appear to show profiling. But, he said. City officials have said that the number of African-Americans in the city has grown since the last census, and the percentage arrested could be in line with the current population in the city. Szudera, who is retiring effective Aug. 31, testified that the location of his office leads to many Native American arrests and inmates in the Hill County Detention Center typically, 70 to 80 percent of the inmates are Native American, he said. The Hill County Sheriff’s Office is 50 miles west of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, and 20 miles north of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation. The location with the highest number of calls requesting assistance from his office is a tavern in Box Elder, just outside of Rocky Boy, he added. “I have to do my job to preserve the peace, protect citizens,” Szudera said. The detention center also holds inmates from the Blaine County and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, which contract to use the Hill County jail. Jurisdictional problems Glacier County Sheriff Wayne Dusterhoff said the lack of staffing in law enforcement and lack of jurisdiction also leads to problems for his office. Because of insufficient staffing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs “They are so understaffed they are almost ineffective” his office regularly assists with calls on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The office is not compensated for that assistance and his deputies actually have little or no jurisdiction there, although they have an agreement allowing them to write tickets for the Tribal court. “I would say the bulk of our calls and requests come from the reservation,” Dusterhoff said. But a complication arises with jurisdiction most incidents have to be handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the deputies turn those situations over. Many of those cases are never prosecuted, because the federal government will not pursue anything less than a felony, he said. John Murray, the Blackfeet Tribe’s historic preservation officer, said he has personal experience with that problem. His son is in an assisted living complex in Missoula due to injuries sustained in a crash caused by a drunk driver, and his daughter when she was 14 was assaulted by an adult convicted felon, a violent offender. The assault was not prosecuted because his daughter suffered no broken bones, Murray said it was not a felony. “We have all these human rights, we are all supposed to be equal under the Bill of Rights, but we have all these jurisdictions,” Murray said. Protecting the peace Szudera and Dusterhoff both said they are working to make sure their offices are following the law and their officers are trained and doing their jobs properly, but they have duties to perform regardless of race. Windy Boy said that the laws on racial profiling were not passed to hinder law enforcement. “The intent of the law was not to point fingers or to blame anyone,” he said. “It was not intended to raise bad feelings. Apparently some of that has risen.” Szudera testified that the impression given by the laws that profiling is common does bother some law enforcement officers. His concern is to make sure the issue does not hinder his duty, he said. “That is law enforcement out on the highways, out on the field,” he said. “It is our last line of protection. If you don’t have that it’s you and them.”
