Policing Partnerships Beat Intro Voiceover 00:00 This is the Beat—a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation. Interview Debra McCullough 00:08 This is Debra McCullough with the COPS Office. Joining us today is Scott Sotebeer, former Chief of Staff for the King County (Washington) Sheriff’s Office (KCSO). Scott is here with us to discuss the Sheriff’s Office partnerships with the Muckleshoot Indian tribe. Scott, as the former chief of staff of the King County Sheriff’s Office, can you tell us a little bit about the contracting program that King County has with municipalities? Scott Sotebeer 00:39 Certainly. The very first contract started in 1973 in the city of North Bend here. There were two drivers of it. One was the Growth Management Act, which was going to consolidate cities and communities and would significantly impact the unincorporated area. As a result of that, then, the sheriff’s office realized that, for a lot of reasons—economically and as a matter of survival—that it needed to get into this business, and they did. Today now, we have in the sheriff’s office over 45 different contracts, including 12 cities. We do some transit policing for King County metro and Sound Transit, as well as an airport police department for the King County airport in town, the Muckleshoot Tribe, and then some specialty contracts around school resource officers, marine units, partnerships with the Forest Service and the United States Coast Guard for our air support unit. It’s a very varied and growing business for the sheriff. Deb 01:46 You said that King County also has a contract with the Muckleshoot Indian tribe. How did this relationship first develop? How did it come about? Scott 01:56 Well, in 1999 the tribe basically had their own security as well as a relationship, to some degree, with the city of Auburn, where the tribal lands are. At that time, they approached the King County Sheriff’s Office and we together applied for a federal grant for one deputy to try and enhance their patrol services by having at least an 8-hour-a-day presence with patrol. By 2000, then, two deputies were hired because it began to work and the tribe disbanded its own department. What we were able to then form with the tribe was what we call “enhanced service.” That basically focuses on patrol and basic investigations. Over time, the contract then grew as the relationship grew. Between the period of 2003 to 2008, then, the tribe added a full-time chief and seven more deputies, again as the relationship grew and everyone understood how it may best benefit the tribe. By 2012 there were 11 full-time officers including a school resource officer, a HUD-grant deputy just specifically for tribal housing safety, and two community service deputies who function as a crisis-response team to mitigate problems quickly and do specialty investigations. Deb 03:26 What are some of the mutual benefits to the tribe and to the sheriff’s office that have stemmed from this contracting relationship? Scott 03:34 As I mentioned, it’s been an evolving process for both parties because they’re dealing with a unique culture and, quite frankly, a separate form of government. What the tribe gets out of it is they have a full-time, professional police force with committed officers. They have the benefit of all of the resources of the sheriff’s office when it’s needed, which really is a key principle behind our contracting model, as well as what law enforcement partnerships should look like. They also have control over how their safety is provided and the mission of their department to meet the needs of their community. In other words, you tailor it to who you’re working with. That helps to eliminate difficult tribal politics as well as keep deputies fully accountable. The KCSO deputies, the sheriff’s office deputies, if you will, and their chief, then in turn make a professional commitment to the tribe and they also get the benefit of working within a unique cultural environment which, I’ve found over the years that I worked in the sheriff’s office, is really attractive to officers in law enforcement. It adds variety and spice to life, I guess, if you will. Then the biggest benefit is that the King County Sheriff’s Office, King County itself, the tribe, and actually all of their contract partners, benefit from the simple economic principle of economies of scale. In short, what that means is that the more you have contracting officers spread across a fixed geographic region, it lowers the cost of police services to the tribe, to the other cities, to the county, and most importantly to the citizens who pay taxes to fund the sheriff’s office. Deb 05:12 Were there any challenges that you encountered in establishing this partnership and, if there were, how did you solve them? Scott 05:20 That’s a great question. Yes, there are a lot of challenges when starting relationships, whether it’s a contract or any policing partnership. They revolve around three critical issues: trust, communication, and commitment. Most things can only be solved by time and deputies working hard and the tribal council working hard in this particular case. The first problem that was pointed out to me, that they really felt was difficult for them was that there was too much turnover with the deputies. Tribal members have to see and believe that there’s a personal commitment. The sheriff’s office had to approach that and understand that they needed to get people who really wanted to make no less than a two- or three-year commitment to serving on the tribal police department. Then together, the tribe and the sheriff’s office really engaged in some proactive efforts to address those critical issues; trust, communication, and commitment. One was to begin to work every day with kids. The second thing that was very important was to gain the trust of tribal elders and members. The third piece that everyone took on was to work hard on two-way information sharing. That was really important. As I’ve spoken to both the chief as well as the tribal chair for public safety, they really emphasized how important it is that that two-way communication and two-way trust has to be built, and that it takes time. And then, in the end, the tribe must uphold the expectations for behavior. In other words, they have to, in this partnership, understand that they’ve given a mission of safety to an independent police department that’s theirs. All members have to understand that and make sure that it works for the entire tribe. As it’s evolved, they’ve established communications mechanisms through a website. They’ve created hotlines. They have Facebook pages. They have frequent forums and lots of interpersonal efforts that really help to build the relationships between the deputies themselves who work there every day, the chief, and the members, as well as the tribal council. That is how they’ve really, over the years, built out this relationship and really started to have a department that everybody is incredibly proud of. Deb 07:38 Thank you so much. Before we close, do you have any other recommendations for sheriffs or tribes that may be considering similar partnerships? Scott 07:49 Certainly. First of all, let’s start with the law enforcement agency looking at doing something like this. They have to be willing to move slowly. I can’t emphasize enough that any contracting partnership or consolidation effort like this, whether it’s with a tribe or not, should not be looked at as some sort of a quick fix. It’s a long-term partnership for the safety and the economic benefit of the public. That’s true with a tribal relationship as well. The law enforcement agencies and the officers must be able to adapt to the environment and understand the culture. It’s different. They have to accept that and become part of it. They have to get commitment from the officers who want to do the work and not just show up and put in their time. As well, the police department involved must be transparent, available, and accountable. That means they’re gathering data and sharing it, they’re seeking the feedback and mechanisms for constant communication, and they’re building one-on-one relationships with members, especially the young people and the kids because that’s important as a tribal issue. They have to be willing to develop the department identity that fits the tribe and its members. In other words, you want the policing to reflect the culture and the nuances of that particular tribe. That’s really, really important. On the other side, the tribe must make the commitment to consistency. What that means is that the members have to understand and support a culture of public safety. It’s everyone’s safety and that’s why they bring a department on in this regard. The members must understand their roles and the rules. Everybody has to become part of this effort. The third piece is that the members must also be willing to participate in their safety as a partner with the officers. That’s back to the one-on-one relationship which is really, really important. I can’t emphasize that enough. As I have talked to and interviewed various members of not only the sheriff’s office but the tribe as well over the years, it always comes back to that personal relationship. Then at the end, and this is probably one of the more difficult areas that the tribal members understand this, is that tribal management must control and manage the politics of the tribe as it relates to public safety. In other words, it’s about keeping that out of the relationship so that the police officers, who they’ve hired, who they’ve put on their tribal lands to keep them safe, are allowed to do their job. Deb 10:14 Thank you Scott, for your time and for your expertise. Scott 10:18 Thank you. Beat Exit Voiceover: 10:20 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems. Disclaimer: 10:36 The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. ####END OF TRANSCRIPT#### 1