Editor:
The discussion of the policing problems at the Bear River Reservation outline poor leadership from the tribe and its administration, and the failure of our politicians in Sacramento to actually solve problems (“The Battle Over Bear River,” Jan. 9). It also ignored Balkanization, the process of dividing areas into multiple smaller units with the inherent increasing complexity.
The simple fact is there isn’t enough money at the local, state or federal level to allow every reservation, rancheria or housing development to hire, support and supervise a police department. Nor is there enough money for all the services that cities and counties provide to their citizens by taxing them.
The money problem is exacerbated by the maddingly complex desire to classify Americans into “Native” and “non-Native” for the purposes of policing. Do you detain and wait for the appropriate racial law enforcement to respond or arrest and charge within your department? That requires another expense of a prosecuting office with investigators and lawyers. Another expense that cannot be afforded by government.
The logical solution is for all Americans to be treated the same under the federal and state system we have under our Constitution. The Bear River Reservation is policed by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and the Indian housing in Fortuna is policed by the Fortuna Police Department.
California was in dire financial condition before the disastrous fires in Los Angeles and the $36 trillion national debt is unsustainable. Activists cannot expect to continue demanding spending for dreamlike projects. There’s no money.
Dennis Scales, Fortuna
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The Battle Over Bear River
This article appears in ‘A Big Family’.
You state: “The logical solution is for all Americans to be treated the same under the federal and state system we have under our Constitution. The Bear River Reservation is policed by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and the Indian housing in Fortuna is policed by the Fortuna Police Department.”
BS! The Constitution and the body of Treaties that are the foundation of Indian Law in this country are the highest laws in the United States, as stated in the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. This means that they take precedence over any state laws that conflict with them. This was upheld by the Supreme Court who ruled on this issue in 2021. The Tribe’s rights as a sovereign nation are not “trumped” by State law or budgetary concerns, regardless of what you, or our far-right sheriff fantasizes.