Oglala sue federal officials over law enforcement staffing

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Oglala Sioux Tribe is suing the federal government for failing to provide adequate law enforcement on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The lawsuit filed this week (July 25-29, 2022) against the Bureau of Indian Affairs and some high level officials in the Interior Department alleges the inadequacy has created a “public safety crisis” on the reservation. Tribal officials say Pine Ridge with its 3 million acres of land has just 33 police officers and eight criminal investigators who handled more than 133,700 emergency calls last year. The tribe says the BIA is out of compliance with its standards of having 2.8 officers per 1,000 people. For Pine Ridge, that would require at least 140 tribal officers.