THE BORDER REPORT

Busy, busy day. And not only for me, apparently.

Has Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation police chief Richard Saunders been fired? Some people think so. The chief of police was asked to resign by the secretive tribal council last week, federal and local sources said. He was either terminated or put in his resignation yesterday, these sources said.

As I understand it, his last day will be in 45 days but he’s taking a leave of absence. There’re are some details to this story I can’t say without stronger corroboration, but as soon as I get those, I’ll let you guys know what’s up. After I put in calls to the tribal office this morning, I’ve been informed that they’ll now be issuing a press release on the chief’s resignation. They don’t intend to announce why he’s stepping down, however.

The chief, if you’ll recall, is married to former O’odham Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders. She was beaten out in the last election by her former vice-chair, Ned Norris.

Norris’ office hasn’t yet returned my phone calls. I found it a little suspicious that the public information office for the O’odham Rez put off answering my questions today because of some new casino opening.

That right there screamed volumes to me. I realize a new casino is important to the tribe, but then, so is news that the chief of police has stepped down.

The O’odham Nation sits on about 120 miles of Arizona border with Mexico. The last administration was vocal in its complaints that the Justice and Homeland Security departments were not placing enough law enforcement resources on the Rez. But then funny things would happen. Like the chairwoman’s brother getting arrested on drug trafficking charges.

Richard Saunders has been a cop for something like 21 years. Myself, I have nothing against the guy; he always gave me unlimited access to the Rez and answered his cellphone when I called. That’s more than I can say about most public officials in Southern Arizona.

–Michael Marizco