There is hereby established a Police Department, to which is
delegated all general law enforcement authority of the Nottawaseppi
Huron Band of the Potawatomi.
The Department shall be headed by a Director, appointed pursuant to Article IV of this chapter.
All law enforcement operations shall take place on and within
the Reservation unless there is a potential that safety and welfare
of an individual is being compromised. In addition, law enforcement
operations may take place off-Reservation pursuant to mutual aid law
enforcement agreements with the State of Michigan or local governments.
All law enforcement operations shall be conducted as set forth
in this chapter.
The Department shall be operated with the mission and purpose
of providing community-based law enforcement services designed to
promote and protect the health, safety and general welfare of the
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Reservation, its citizens
and all persons residing on, or who are present on, the Reservation.
Law enforcement personnel shall be responsible for detecting and preventing
crime and enforcing the laws of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the
Potawatomi and applicable federal, state or local laws, when authorized
under mutual aid agreements.
The Police Department may, as authorized and delegated by this
chapter and the Tribal Council, enter into cross-deputization and
other mutual aid law enforcement agreements with other jurisdictions.
Such agreements must be ratified and approved by Tribal Council resolution.
The Department may allow law enforcement use of service firearms
and weapons, including the use of deadly force when necessary, in
order to protect life, liberty, property, land and premises, in accordance
with tribal law and according to the usual and minimum accepted law
enforcement standards as determined by the Director. However, actual
use of deadly force shall be allowed solely for the protection of
life or the prevention of grievous bodily harm.
The Tribal Council shall provide oversight regarding the programs
and actions of the law enforcement operations to assist the Department
in carrying out its stated mission and to provide the greatest possible
professional services to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
community and to allow for community input regarding those law enforcement
services through its representatives. The Tribal Council's role
is to serve as an oversight body and does not involve decision making
processes on day-to-day activities of those law enforcement services.
