Justice disparities on South Dakota reservations need attention, US attorney general says

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks to the media on Aug. 14, 2024, in Sioux Falls. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

SIOUX FALLS — U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday during a visit to South Dakota that national crime rates have declined , but challenges remain on tribal reservations in the state.

“We know that progress in some communities has not been the same,” Garland said. “Progress across the country is still uneven. Of course, there is no level of violent crime that’s acceptable.”

He said that since 2021, the Justice Department has allocated $19.1 million to support tribal justice initiatives in South Dakota.

“Tribal communities deserve safety and justice,” he said.

Garland’s visit included a Sioux Falls meeting with Alison Ramsdell, the U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota, as well as federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement leaders. He was scheduled to participate in a roundtable meeting later Wednesday in Wagner with members of the Yankton Sioux Tribe and U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota.

John Pettigrew, acting police chief of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, recently told a congressional committee that federal funding for tribal law enforcement — which is required by treaties dating to the 1800s — is “a joke.” He said the tribe’s Department of Public Safety is funded at 15% of its needs, a shortfall that has led to inadequate staffing levels, longer response times and officer burnout.

Police Chief Edwin Young of the Yankton Sioux Tribe told South Dakota Searchlight prior to Wednesday’s meeting in Sioux Falls that the tribe struggles to recruit and retain officers.

“We need competitive pay with the local law enforcement. We don’t have a real retirement system. That stuff is pretty much nonexistent in most tribal programs,” Young said.

His department currently operates with three officers and needs at least 12 to police the area effectively, he said.

Logistical hurdles in training and recruitment exacerbate the funding challenges.

Traditionally, tribal officers have had to complete their training at a Bureau of Indian Affairs facility in New Mexico, a requirement that has been a barrier to recruiting new officers. Bu the bureau recently lent its support to a new, state-led summer training session in Pierre, which is providing training closer to home for prospective tribal officers. Rounds has asked for for the establishment of a federal tribal law enforcement training facility in the Great Plains region.

Prior to Garland’s visit, public safety on reservations in South Dakota had been a longstanding topic of public debate.

Gov. Kristi Noem gave a speech in January claiming that Mexican drug cartels are operating on reservations, and she’s repeated those claims many times since. Those and other comments led leaders of all nine of the tribes in the state to vote in support of banning her from their reservations. Noem did not attend the meeting Wednesday in Sioux Falls.

Additionally, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has sued the federal government, alleging it’s failing to adequately uphold its treaty obligation to fund public safety. Concerns about public safety on the tribe’s Pine Ridge Reservation have been heightened recently after a 56-year-old man was fatally shot at a powwow earlier this month.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com . Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X .