Cow Creek development of own police force adds support to county and tribal lands
Douglas County OR Sept 17 2021
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has long provided dedicated deputies to provide law enforcement assistance on lands held by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
This past April, the Cow Creek Tribal Police was officially formed, strengthening that partnership on tribal lands throughout southern Douglas County.
“We started this process 2, 2 1/2 years ago, and it officially started with hiring our chief,” said Dirk Doyle, an attorney representing the tribe.
That chief is Brett Johnson, who retired in 2019 after rising to the rank of deputy chief of the Medford Police Department.
“I was a consultant,” Johnson said of his role in assisting the establishment of the tribal police force. “We started reaching out to our tribal leadership, local businesses, local (law enforcement) partners as well as tribal police departments around the state.
“Jurisdictions are different. Relationships are different. Partnerships are different,” he said.
The Cow Creek tribe had an upper hand when it came to developing its police department, as much infrastructure was already in place through contracts with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Those contracts have provided for assistance from the sheriff’s office when necessary, including two county patrol deputies, jail space and records keeping.
The tribe formed a Tribal Law Enforcement Commission, which is chaired by Doug Ladd, who retired after 25 years with the Oregon State Police.
There are currently two officers on the tribal police force. Travis Dahl, recently retired from the Roseburg Police Department and Gregg Kennerly, a former Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy, are the two patrol officers on the tribal force. Both are fully certified through Oregon’s Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.
While their primary focus will be on response to issues on public lands, the Cow Creek police have already been helpful to local law enforcement agencies in other matters.
“We are excited for the Cow Creek Tribal Police and we look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship,” Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Tuesday. “This partnership is not only beneficial for the sheriff’s office, the tribe, their casino, tribal housing and other properties, but to all residents and visitors of Douglas County.”
As a sovereign government, tribes across the country are able to develop their own criminal code, which applies only to members of a federally recognized tribe when on tribal land or property. Non-tribal members who violate laws on tribal land can be subject to state and federal laws, as applicable, and can be detained by tribal police
All tribal police are trained and certified by DPSST and work with federal law enforcement so that arrests of non-tribal members on tribal land would be handled initially by tribal police but then the jurisdiction would transfer to the U.S. Attorney or FBI.
As state-certified officers, the tribal police officers have the same authority as municipal law enforcement, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers in Oregon, which means tribal police can respond to, and support, local law enforcement response to public safety issues, from state laws to federal.
However, all calls for activity on tribal lands will be the responsibility of the tribal police department, not the local law enforcement or sheriff, which was the case prior to the tribal police department.
While the Cow Creek tribe has no plans for its own jail — they will continue to contract with the county — it is planning to add four or five additional officers as the process moves forward. It also is looking into developing an Explorer program for younger tribal members to grow their interest in law enforcement.
While their focus is primarily on tribal properties, the Cow Creek Tribal Police can be utilized in areas where their response might be faster county or municipal law enforcement and have already assisted in a number of cases through southern Douglas County.
