Sheriff: Case in Frazer Highlights Need to Cross Deputize

Law Enforcement in Frazer has been a perennial enigma for the Valley County Sheriff. Due to its Tribal citizenry, Frazer has been a sort of no-go zone for county sheriff's deputies in the past, and a lack of cross-deputization between tribal law enforcement and VCSO makes enforcing the law in Frazer difficult and cumbersome.

Recent efforts to give Frazer's residents a sense of security and support from the county have yielded fruit though. According to Sheriff Tom Boyer, a Jan. 8 call from a Frazer resident led newly minted Sheriff Deputy Jake Kinder and Tribal Police officers to a major felony drug bust that has since been turned over to Fort Peck Tribal Law Enforcement for prosecution.

Boyer said that his office received a call from a Frazer resident saying a young man was trying to break into her house. VCSO and Tribal Law Enforcement both dispatched officers to the scene. The Valley County Deputy arrived first and was able to stop, identify and detain a juvenile male. After a search was conducted the deputy had not only found the would-be burglar but had discovered a large quantity of illegal drugs to include meth and other paraphernalia.

"I really want to promote the work between us and Tribal Law Enforcement in this case," explained Boyer. He said that life in Frazer has been a "nightmare" due to excessive levels of crimes like robbery, drugs and so on. "This story is important in the sense that we can work together to try to have a better place out there [in Frazer]."

Deputy Kinder, told the Courier the male in question (The Courier does not identify juveniles involved in crime) had been the subject of previous calls to include one just the week prior, but they were unable to locate him at the time. On Jan. 8, Kinder located the suspect and detained him. While detaining the suspect Tribal Law Enforcement arrived, and the two officers conducted a search. During that search, Kinder said they discovered, "some drug paraphernalia off him, and also a hypodermic needle, and a fair amount of meth as well, so it was overall a really good stop and we were able to get him off the streets."

The juvenile male was arrested and charged by Tribal Police, but the specific charges and information were not readily available to the Courier. The Fort Peck Tribal Police could not be reached by The Glasgow Courier for this story. To date attempts to cross deputize the two law enforcement agencies have not come to fruition. Sheriff Boyer said he hopes highlighting the need will speed things along and make it a reality for Frazer.

Deputy Kinder told the Courier that both Tribal Police and the Sheriff's Office are, "working really well together and I know a lot of the Tribal officers and I also share the same ideas and we want to get cross deputized out there, and we work really well together."

Both Kinder and Boyer pointed out that the Sheriff's Office has been ramping up their presence in the community with increased presence patrols and presence at school events and community gatherings. But the hope is to go further and make policing in Frazer work better for the community's benefit.

Sheriff Boyer explained increasing their presence in Frazer has been a priority for him and his belief that Frazer is just as deserving of VCSO support as the rest of Valley County despite falling primarily under Tribal Police jurisdiction. "[Frazer] is no less deserving of our support, presence, protection than 15 miles away where it's not reservation," he said. "We do try to go there. We do make every effort and when we are notified, we go."