Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff on Monday named a retired Riverside city police officer and member of the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians tribe as interim liaison to the county's tribal councils.
Sniff said in a released statement that he chose Alex Tortes as liaison because Tortes is versed in tribal histories. Tortes will serve as an bridge to the tribal communities and begin laying critical groundwork, he said.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has been criticized for not communicating with tribal leaders following two deputy-involved shootings in May on the Soboba Indian Reservation near San Jacinto that claimed the lives of three tribal members.
Manuel Hamilton, vice chairman of the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians near Anza, said the county has been in need of a tribal liaison for a long time, but he thinks it's more than a one-person job.
"I hope he can deal with the situation because he's going to have a lot of tribes coming to him, putting him on the spot," Hamilton said of Tortes.
Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said Tortes will support patrol station commanders' efforts to build relationships with tribal communities.
He will not work more than 960 hours a year because he is on a state pension. Tortes, a Riverside resident since 1950, served 33 years with the Riverside Police Department and retired in 2005.
Gutierrez said Tortes will not be interacting with leaders of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians right away because the sheriff is in crucial discussions with those leaders.
Robert Salgado, chairman of the Soboba Band, said the appointment of a liaison was news to him, but he called it a move in the right direction.
Representatives of the tribe and the Sheriff's Department met Monday and hope to strike an agreement about future operations in a few weeks, but the subject of a tribal liaison hasn't come up, he said.
Sniff will continue his search for a permanent tribal liaison, Gutierrez said.
Reach Kimberly Trone at 951-368-9456 or ktrone@PE.com
Reach Michelle Print DeArmond at 951-368-9441 or mdearmond@PE.com