The Bureau of Indian Affairs is spending $1 million to beef up law enforcement on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Operation Dakota Peacekeeper puts 20 officers on the ground to patrol the 2.3 million-acre reservation, which straddles the North Dakota and South Dakota border. Everyone agrees the effort has reduced violent crime but the big question is what happens once it's over.
"What will happen after 90 days? Are we sending a message that all they have to do is wait another three weeks and it'll go back to the way it was before?" Ron His Horse Is Thunder, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said at a field hearing on Monday, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
The BIA has agreed to extend the operation for another 30 days. But funding remains an issue as the next administration comes on board, said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee.
Get the Story:Worries that reservation peace only temporary (The Bismarck Tribune 8/5) Committee Notice:
FIELD HEARING on the progress and future of Operation Dakota Peacekeeper (August 4, 2008) Relevant Documents:
Operation Dakota Peacekeeper (BIA) Related Stories:
Senate panel holds field hearing at Standing Rock (8/5)
Senate hearing on Standing Rock Reservation (8/1)
BIA spends $1M on Standing Rock Sioux 'surge' (7/14)
Column: Sen. Thune takes on law enforcement issues (7/10)
Editorial: Funding alone won't help Standing Rock (6/16)
Editorial: Standing Rock Sioux confront crime (6/13)
Editorial: Standing Rock crime deserves attention (6/10)
BIA tackles crime on Standing Rock Reservation (6/5)