The leader of a South Dakota tribe is expected to declare an emergency on the state’s largest Native American reservation because of rampant crime that he said hasn’t been curbed due to the U.S. government’s inadequate funding for law enforcement.
Only 33 officers and eight criminal investigators are responsible for more than 100,000 emergency calls each year across the 5,400-square-mile (14,000-square-kilometer) reservation, tribal officials have said.
Oglala Sioux officials contend the tribe is entitled to federal funding for 120 fully equipped officers for the reservation, something the federal government has disputed.
Giovanni Rocco, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, noted in an email to the AP that the department’s Law Enforcement Task Force has recommended the federal government increase law enforcement staffing levels on reservations.
Lange, the judge in the Oglala Sioux case, has noted the Pine Ridge reservation is among the most impoverished places in the country.
Persons:
hasn’t, Frank Star, “, ”, Ben Fenner, Roberto Lange, it's, They're, Giovanni Rocco, Robert Miller, Miller, Lange, ” ___ Trisha Ahmed, @TrishaAhmed15
Organizations:
U.S, Oglala Sioux, Sioux, Interior Department, of Indian Affairs, The Associated Press, District, AP, Force, Arizona State University, ., Shawnee Tribe, Tribal, Northern Cheyenne, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America
Locations:
South Dakota, Oglala, U.S, States, Connecticut, reevaluate, United States, Oglala Sioux, Shawnee, Oklahoma, Montana, Pine