Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff has petitioned the National Indian Gaming Commission to shut down the Soboba casino “until the Tribal Council allows unhindered and unrestricted access by law enforcement authorities onto the reservation to enforce State of California criminal statutes.”

Sniff's action drew an immediate and virulent reaction from Robert Salgado, tribal chairman for the Soboba band of Luiseño Indians.

“Same old story of treaties being broken. ... The white man speaks with a forked tongue - you know the saying,” Salgado said during a news conference Tuesday.

“This is 2008, not the 1800s where the cavalry came in and took our women and our kids and massacred them.”

The Sheriff's Department and Salgado have been at odds since three tribal members were killed in two shootouts with deputies in less than a week in May.

Salgado repeatedly criticized the Sheriff's Department after the shootings.

Since then, said Sniff, deputies have been stopped by tribal security guards when they tried to enter the reservation on police business.

Salgado acknowledged Tuesday there have been such incidents. He said deputies have been escorted by security guards five times when on police business.

Sniff said in comments to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors that he wants such interference ended or the casino shut down.

In his letter to the gaming commission, Sniff said: “After these restrictions were unilaterally noticed to Sheriffs officials, the Riverside County Sheriffs Department notified the Tribal Council that attempts to delay, obstruct or block law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties was a criminal offense in the state of California and subjected those doing so to arrest and prosecution.”

He continued: “The tribal council, although warned, has continued this month with guidance to their staff that places them in direct conflict with law enforcement, raising safety concerns for the public and for law enforcement officers.”

Salgado denied Tuesday that casino patrons are in danger and said the tribe has established no restrictions on deputies' access to the casino.

“The reservation in general, and casino in particular, is a safe place for the members of the public, tribal members, and tribal employees,” Salgado said, reading from a statement that he declined to make available after the news conference.

However, Sniff said in his letter, “The Soboba Tribal Council has attempted to blur the issue by indicating that access to the casino area is unrestricted while the contiguous reservation area will be closed to law enforcement authorities without permission to enter. This is really a distinction without difference, especially in light of the crime patterns that exist, including the recent incidents that have occurred there in recent months.”

In a July 28 memo, sheriff's Lt. Art Wales reported that crime on the reservation is much higher than the surrounding area.

"This study concluded instances of violent crime on the Soboba Indian Reservation were over three times greater per capita than other areas of the Hemet station jurisdiction," Wales reported.

The crimes studied were aggravated assault, rape, murder, and robbery, Wales said.

The Sheriff's Department and tribal officials have been in negotiations for months with the Bureau of Indian Affairs mediating over differences that arose after the gunbattles, in which three members of the reservation were killed.

Two weeks ago, they signed an agreement basically saying the negotiations would continue, but offering no solutions.

In a news conference following the signing Salgado said he sees the reservation as sovereign and that the authority of outside officers ends at the reservation boundary.

Under Public Law 280, civil law enforcement agencies are empowered to enforce the law on reservations.

The Soboba Tribal Council has asked for a legal interpretation of the law and has scheduled an Aug. 11 forum to discuss it.

During Tuesday's press conference, Salgado said he believes the Sheriff's Department has no authority to patrol the reservation.

Sniff said after the signing of the agreement two weeks ago that patrol is a nonissue since the department does not have the resources to patrol on the reservation.

Salgado said he believes even coming onto the reservation for anything except emergencies is beyond the department's authority.

During Tuesday's press conference, Rose Salgado, another member of the tribal council, said deputies have no right to enter the reservation. "A brief stop at the guard house would not be unreasonable," she said. ‘It seems equally clear that the sheriff cannot enter the tribal reservation, which is closed off to the public."