The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the St. Joseph County Police Department met on December 3, 2015, to sign the agreement. Photo from Facebook

The Pokagon Band Potawatomi Indians signed a cross deputization agreement with St. Joseph County, Indiana, on Thursday.

The tribe's police officers will be able to enforce county laws and county officers will be able to enforce tribal and federal law. The agreement is the first of its kind in Indiana although the tribe has similar ones in place in neighboring Michigan.

"Our cooperative relationship with the St. Joseph County Police Department will act in the same way as our successful agreements with police departments in Michigan," Chairman John P. Warren said in a press release.

The agreement covers the tribe's 10 officers and 35 officers in the county.

Get the Story:
Pokagons, St. Joseph County seal pact on police powers (The South Bend Tribune 12/4)
New police partnership between St. Joseph County, Pokagon Band (WNDU 12/3)
Cross-deputization ceremony held for Pokagon Band Tribal Police and SJC Deputies (WSBT 12/3)
Pokagon officers, St. Joseph County police to be cross-deputized (The South Bend Tribune 12/2)