JUNE 29, 2024:
Governor Kristi Noem hosted the first-ever Tribal Public Safety Crisis Summit Monday (June 24, 2024) at the Governor’s Residence in Pierre. She was joined by Congressman Dusty Johnson, Attorney General Marty Jackley and leaders and law enforcement officials at the state, tribal, federal and local levels.
“We have dangerous drugs and violent crime taking place in parts of South Dakota – we can fix it if we have honest conversations and work together. That’s what happened today,” said Noem. “Because of the conversations and the relationships that were built at this Summit, we will continue to make meaningful progress towards making South Dakota safer.”
The conversation covered a wide-range of issues tied to public safety on South Dakota’s Native American reservations, including:
- Continuing the success of the first-of-its-kind special law enforcement training for tribal law enforcement that began this summer;
- The best path forward for mutual aid agreements and cross-deputization;
- Federal funding issues for tribal law enforcement, tribal prosecutors, tribal judges, and other related issues; and,
- Ways to lead more successful changes moving forward.
The group discussed statistical data on crime in Indian Country. A summary of the data can be found here, and it originated from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of South Dakota Annual Report.
MAY 30, 2024:
South Dakota will be hosting a Tribal Public Safety Crisis Summit late next month (June 24, 2024) in Pierre.
Although it’s the United States government’s responsibility to provide law enforcement on Reservation Land, around half of the Tribes in South Dakota have complained about the dire situation they’re in because of a severe shortage of law enforcement officers.
In a video message posted on social media, Governor Kristi Noem says since the feds aren’t doing anything to help, she’s going to try to.
Noem, who has a strained relationship with various Tribal leaders but not necessarily with Tribal members, is hoping the gathering will bring more accountability.
Noem says, “We solve problems best when we work together and communicate – I hope that this Summit will accomplish that.”
Additionally, Noem and Attorney General Marty Jackley announced last month (April 2024) that the state would hold its first-ever basic certification course geared toward the unique challenges that face Tribal law enforcement officers and non-tribal agencies that border the reservations.
In the past, a handful of tribal officers trained in South Dakota but the majority received their training in New Mexico, meaning they had to be away from their families. This 13-week course will allow tribal officers to go home on the weekends.
Tribal officers selected for the training are from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe. The rest of the 24-member class will consist of officers from other non-tribal law enforcement agencies.
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