Marijuana not to blame for police split, tribe says

An attorney for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe said Wednesday that conversations about cutting ties with the city of Flandreau's police department predated the tribe's decision to legalize marijuana.

Flandreau city officials said this week they think the tribe is ending a 16-year-old law enforcement contract with its police department on Sept. 4 because of a disagreement about marijuana enforcement.

Seth Pearman, the tribe's lawyer, however, downplayed marijuana's role in the decision. He accused the city of trying to deflect attention from the real reasons, which include inadequate policing and a poor relationship with the tribe.

"I think there's a general lack of cooperation to work with the tribe in adequately policing the tribal lands," Pearman said.

Pearman said the issues with the city of Flandreau's police department began in 2013, when its police chief at the time, Michael Eisenbarth, and two other officers were let go following a state investigation into theft from evidence lockers.

Eisenbarth's replacement, Jim Morey, held the police chief position for about a year and a half. Earlier this year, the city hired a new chief, James Spurgeon, over objections from tribal officials. Pearman said the tribe conducted a background check on Spurgeon, but he would not go into detail about what they found.

"There were some skeletons in Mr. Spurgeon's closet that the tribe was not a fan of," current Flandreau Police Chief Anthony Schrad said.

Spurgeon was then let go by the city after two weeks.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe sent a letter to the city of Flandreau on June 4 giving it 90-day notice that it would be ending a contract for Flandreau to police the tribe's reservation. The letter came a week before the tribe's council would vote to legalize marijuana, which city officials blame for the policing split.

Schrad said under the agreement that will expire Sept. 4, Flandreau police officers would have authority to walk into the tribe's marijuana dispensary and arrest non-Native Americans for ingesting marijuana.

"Obviously, from a business standpoint, you can see why you can't have us in there," Schrad said. "Because we could essentially arrest everyone who is non-Native. That's why I personally believe the joint power agreement was terminated."

The tribe denies the claim. Pearman said even if the agreement was in place, city officers would need the tribe's permission before stepping foot on tribal land.

Newly appointed tribal police chief Nicholas Cottier said he wasn't involved in the decision to dissolve the law enforcement. He hopes to maintain a working relationship with the city.

Cottier said his immediate focus is on recruiting officers. He said he's hired two tribal police officers from Pine Ridge who will start on Monday, and he hopes to hire a couple more officers by the end of next week.

"We might be a little shorthanded for maybe the first six months or so, but that will be nothing for us. We aren't worried about it," Cottier said.

Once the department is at full-strength, it will focus on what he called the tribe's true drug problem: methamphetamine. He said he's confident the tribe's plans for marijuana will prevent any influx of crime.

"They need to look at the reality of drugs, especially in South Dakota. They are worried about marijuana, but what about meth?," Cottier said. "If they want to focus on something I think we should be focused on that, not marijuana."