San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial

Broad questions linger two months after forcible evictions at the Jamul Indian Village and a public protest that ended in a physical confrontation.

Twice before the incident, the Sheriff’s Department told a county supervisor it “would keep the peace.” Yet, as evictions occurred early on March 10 and the 911 calls came in, sheriff’s deputies apparently were absent.

Later in the day, a department that had pledged to keep the peace did set up a phalanx to keep protesters off the reservation. When that effort failed and hired security agents used pepper spray and batons on middle-aged, unarmed trespassers, sheriff’s deputies did not respond. (The exception, according to protesters, was a deputy who went to the site and made statements that pepper spray and batons were appropriate levels of force, statements they believe caused the situation to deteriorate.)

The Sheriff’s Department is caught in the middle between a community opposed to a casino and a tribe wanting to assert its sovereign independence. The department does not deserve to be a scapegoat. The unanswered questions, however, eat away at public confidence in the department.

Question: Was a policy decision not to intervene made beforehand or at the scene?

Supervisor Dianne Jacob had two conversations beforehand with Capt. Guy Chambers and says she was misled as to how the department would respond.

A sheriff’s captain is in no position to get in a public quarrel with a supervisor. Chambers praises Jacob and will say nothing to contradict her.

Question: Will the public ever know what happened that day, free of the emotional bias of one side or the other?

Chambers is leading an investigation expected to wrap up in the next few days. But neither the Sheriff’s Department nor the District Attorney’s Office routinely release such reports.

The County Law Enforcement Review Board, an independent body approved by voters in 1990, has begun a formal investigation. But that report may never become public, or at best only a terse summary will be released in a year or so.

Question: What were 911 callers told when they called for help?

The department has declined to release transcripts of the calls on the grounds an investigation is under way. Public accounts of the number of calls made do not square with the number of calls the Sheriff’s Department says it received.

It is not difficult to anticipate a future situation of this magnitude at an East County casino on tribal trust lands: a wildfire, a fired employee returning with weapons, a drunken brawl that escalates. Would the Sheriff’s Department respond?

John Madigan, a sheriff’s special assistant who deals with tribal matters, said legal issues on tribal lands are complex but the response answer is not. A tribal reservation is no different than a Kmart, he said, if law enforcement is needed.

Meaning, if Kmart management called for help? “We’d go.” Meaning, if a Kmart customer worried about shoppers’ personal safety called 911? “We’d go.”

In this case, protesters/trespassers/otherwise law-abiding citizens being subjected to pepper spray and baton blows called for help. Sheriff’s deputies did not go.

Why?

The public, which is paying for two investigations, deserves to know what went right or wrong that day. The public deserves to know what to expect next time. The Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the independent County Law Enforcement Review Board should make all reports public. The sooner, the better.

Call the SHERIFF!
This is Sheriff’s Department response to a request for information about emergency calls received during an eviction, public protest, and physical confrontation at the Jamul Indian Village on March 10.

1. Time, substance, and location of a complaint or request for assistance received by the agency

03/10/07 7:14:03 AM, Jamul Indian Village – State Route 94. Caller reported 5 armed white males approaching residence.

03/10/07 7:23:55 AM, Jamul Indian Village – State Route 94. Caller reported that the 5 armed white males were wearing black uniforms and ordered him to leave his house.

03/10/07 9:00:13 AM, Jamul Indian Village – State Route 94. Caller reported that the tribal police were attacking people using physical force, batons, and mace. Caller wanted Sheriff’s Deputies to stop the tribal police.

03/12/07 11:08:46 AM, Jamul Tribal Hall – State Route 94. Caller reported that he had been peppersprayed and wanted to make a complaint.

2. Time and nature of the agency’s response thereto

3. Time, date and location of the occurrence (to the extent the information regarding crimes alleged or committed or any other incident investigated is recorded)

At approximately 7:15 A.M., deputies from the Lemon Grove Station responded to 14151 State Route 94 (Jamul Indian Village) to preserve the peace on an eviction. Approximately sixty people showed up to support the people being evicted. The family being evicted apparently lived in the area proposed for a new casino. Lemon Grove requested additional units respond due to the large crowd. Units from Poway, Imperial Beach, Santee, Rural and the CHP responded. No force was used by Sheriff’s Deputies and most of the units cleared at approximately 3:00 P.M. However, one individual in the group of people who had gathered was cited and released for a violation of 602PC (Trespassing) at approximately 09:00 AM.

4. Time and date of the report

The time and date of the report of the trespass is 03/10/2007, at 13:00 An after-action report of the incident was prepared on 03/14/07, time unknown.

5. Name and age of the victim

Jamul Indian Tribe was the victim of the trespass.

6. Factual circumstances surrounding the crime or incident

No arrests were made. As noted, one individual was cited for trespass on the lands of the Jamul Indian Tribe.

7. General description of any injury, property, or weapons involved.

None.

© Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

Posted on May 10th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Gaming, News