What Ten Years Learning About Law Enforcement Taught Me

Shawn White Wolf on Montana Law Enforcement

by Shawn White Wolf

Over the years, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand law enforcement in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, not from a distance, not from social media, and not from political talking points, but firsthand.

That journey took more than ten years of my life in one way or another. I spent six months with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy program. I volunteered on the Helena Area Crime Stoppers board. I attended the Helena Police Department’s Citizen Academy. I worked on a failed levy effort that would have helped fund the Helena Police Department. I also spent many hours in one-on-one conversations with law enforcement officers, listening to what they deal with, what they worry about, and what they wish the public understood.

On top of that, I served as a Helena Citizens Council member, where I learned more about local public safety concerns and the challenges facing our neighborhoods. I also ran for Helena City Commission twice and Lewis and Clark County Justice of the Peace twice. A major part of my platform was built around what I had learned over many years: local law enforcement needs more resources, better support, and a public that is willing to understand the full picture before passing judgment.

Now, I did not come into this with some blind “back the blue no matter what” attitude. That was not my starting point.

As an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Nation and a longtime resident of Montana, I grew up with a very different understanding of law enforcement. Like many Native people, I was raised with the belief that law enforcement was something to fear, not trust. That kind of mistrust does not come from nowhere. It comes from history, family experience, community stories, and hard realities that many people would rather not talk about.

So for me, changing my view of law enforcement was not automatic. It was not easy. I had to go see things for myself. I had to talk to officers. I had to listen. I had to ask hard questions. I had to put aside some of what I thought I knew and be willing to learn the real thing, not the cartoon version from either side of the political aisle.

And after all of that, my personal opinion changed dramatically.

I care deeply about our law enforcement officers. I understand, far more than I used to, the dangers and risks they face every single day. That risk does not magically end when they take off the uniform. Their families carry it too. Their spouses, children, parents, and friends live with the reality that one bad call, one dangerous traffic stop, one violent confrontation, or one split-second decision can change everything.

That matters. It should matter to all of us.

At the same time, supporting law enforcement does not mean turning off common sense. It does not mean giving government unlimited power. It does not mean pretending mistakes never happen. And it certainly does not mean accepting policies that harm innocent people.

That brings me to the issue of ICE and immigration enforcement.

For me, the issue is not whether people who are in this country illegally should simply be allowed to stay without consequence. That is not my position. A country has laws. Borders mean something. Communities have limited resources. Local governments, schools, shelters, hospitals, courts, and law enforcement agencies are already stretched thin. It is not fair to expect local communities to absorb every consequence of a broken national immigration system.

People who are in the United States illegally have to face the reality that they are in a foreign country without legal status. That is a hard truth, but it is still the truth.

However, the question that matters is this: how do we enforce immigration law humanely, fairly, and without trampling on the rights of American citizens?

That is where things have gone badly wrong.

The problem is not simply enforcement. The problem is when political leaders, public officials, or loud voices in the community start treating every dark-skinned person as if they are automatically an illegal immigrant. That is reckless. That is dangerous. And frankly, it is un-American.

There are American citizens in this country who are Native, Hispanic, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, and from many other backgrounds. Many of them have been here for generations. In the case of Native people, we were here before the United States even existed. So when dark-skinned citizens are treated like suspects in their own communities, something has gone deeply off the rails.

That kind of thinking creates fear, resentment, and chaos. It damages trust between law enforcement and the public. It makes good officers’ jobs harder. It puts innocent people in uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous situations. It also gives bad political actors a way to stir up anger while pretending they are solving problems.

They are not solving problems. They are making them worse.

If someone is in this country illegally and has committed crimes or violated immigration law, then there needs to be a legal process. That process should be firm, but it should also be humane. It should be based on facts, not skin color. It should target actual immigration violations, not anyone who “looks foreign” to someone who ought to know better.

Because once we allow appearance to become evidence, we are no longer talking about law and order. We are talking about profiling. And profiling is not justice. It is lazy government dressed up as toughness.

I believe local law enforcement deserves support. I believe officers deserve better funding, better training, better staffing, and better public understanding. I believe communities are safer when law enforcement is respected and properly resourced. I also believe law enforcement works best when the public trusts that officers are enforcing the law fairly.

That trust is fragile. Once it breaks, it is hard to rebuild.

That is why leaders need to be careful with their words and policies. Immigration enforcement should not become an excuse for targeting citizens, especially citizens who happen to have darker skin. There is a difference between enforcing the law and creating fear among innocent people. That difference matters.

We can support law enforcement and still demand common sense. We can believe in immigration law and still insist on basic human dignity. We can say illegal immigration is a real issue without pretending every brown person is part of the problem. These things are not contradictions. They are the foundation of a responsible, adult conversation.

My own life has taught me that people can change their views when they take the time to learn. I changed mine. I went from growing up with mistrust toward law enforcement to having a much deeper respect for the men and women who serve. But that respect also makes me believe we have a responsibility to protect the integrity of law enforcement from political misuse.

Our officers should not be turned into tools for racial suspicion. Our communities should not be divided by fear. And our citizens should not have to prove they belong here just because of how they look.

Illegal immigration must be addressed. But it must be addressed with law, facts, fairness, and humanity. Anything less is not strength. It is failure wearing a badge it did not earn.