Law | Politics

St. Regis Mohawk Tribe extends police service to ancestral land

Monday, August 17, 2015

Tribal leaders, tribal officers and staff from the St. Regis Mohawk police department. Photo from SRMT

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe will be expanding its policing powers to ancestral territory in New York.

Superintendent of the New York State Police Joseph A. D'Amico signed a certificate on Thursday to recognize the tribe's authority in the Hogansburg Triangle or the Bombay Triangle. The 2,000-acre area is currently the subject of land claim negotiations.

"This is an historic day for our police department and the community of Akwesasne," Chief of Police Matthew Rourke said in a press release. "We need to have Mohawk police officers patrolling our territory and we’ve always considered this area part of Akwesasne."

The tribe already had authority to enforce state law on the reservation. But the Hogansburg Triangle was not included because it does not lie within reservation boundaries.

The situation changed when Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed A07256 into law on Thursday. The bill resolves a jurisdictional void.

"Although it has been regularly patrolled by state-certified St. Regis tribal officers, courts have recently held that the grant of police authority to the St. Regis officers did not include this triangular-shaped piece of property," the bill justification reads.

Get the Story:
St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police now have authority to make arrests in so-called 'Hogansburg Triangle' (North Country News 8/17)
Tribal police can now make arrests within 'Hogansburg Triangle' (The Cornwall Seaway News 8/17)
Obscure bills no less important to New York legislative process (The Albany Times-Union 8/17)