The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota will lose 59 police officers at the end of March due to a loss of federal funding.
The tribe was awarded grants under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program at the Department of Justice. But once the money runs out, the 59 officers will go, leaving only 29 left to patrol the 3.2 million acres of the second-largest reservation in the United States.
"The Department of Justice appropriated $18 million for 500 tribes to fight over for their entire law enforcement operations. It�s ridiculous," Police Chief Ron Duke told The Rapid City Journal.
The tribe is searching for other sources of funds to maintain its Public Safety Department. Duke is scheduled to testify before the House Appropriations Committee in March about shortfalls in Indian Country law enforcement.
Patrick Mills, a tribal member who is the new director of the Public Safety Department, says morale among officers is low. He was a criminal investigator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the past 19 years.
Get the Story:
Tribal law enforcement faces big reduction
(The Rapid City Journal 2/15)
New OST police captain has plenty of experience (The Rapid City Journal 2/15)
Relevant Links:
COPS, Department of Justice - http://www.cops.usdoj.gov
Related Stories:
DOJ distributes $18M in COPS grants to
tribes (08/30)
Law enforcement
director at BIA named (8/23)
Oglala Sioux Tribe gets COPS funding
extension (08/03)
House approves Commerce, Justice, Safety
bill (06/17)
Violence
Against Women Act includes tribal provisions (06/14)
Study finds high rates of trauma among two
tribes (06/01)
Harjo: Native women
aren't safe in Indian Country (04/29)
Troubled tribal jail facility said to be
closing (02/16)
Bush administration
budget slashes BIA programs (02/08)
Lawsuit filed over teen's suicide at BIA jail
(12/02)
Data shows little change in BIA jail
population (11/08)
Congress puts focus
on Indian Country crime (11/22)
Justice
bill shifts priorities in Indian Country (8/4)
Interim Indian Country jail report released
(7/2)
Senate panel holds hearing on
detention facilities (06/24)
Indian
Country jails subject of Senate hearing (06/21)
BIA law enforcement official returns to South
Dakota (06/09)
BIA: Law enforcement head
offered to be reassigned (06/03)
Top BIA
law enforcement official reassigned (6/2)
Overcrowding in Indian Country jails the
norm (12/02)
Tribes lobbying against
'harmful' appropriations riders (11/10)
Indian Country jails see record
growth (09/05)
Indian Country
jails see increased numbers (8/13)
Behind Bars: Native incarceration rates
increase (7/13)
New study
focuses on jails (7/10)
Stay Connected
Contact Us
indianz@indianz.com202 630 8439 (THEZ)
Search
Top Stories
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
More Stories
Tom Heffelfinger to step down as U.S. Attorney Cherokee chief wants to sue BIA over constitution
News Archive
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000