South Dakota
Police academy for tribal recruits should lead to regional effort, attorney general says • South Dakota Searchlight
PIERRE — South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley hopes a new basic law enforcement training course that prioritizes tribal recruits will prove the state could host regional training for Native American officers from the Upper Midwest.
Jackley and U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell spoke Monday at the George S. Mickelson Law Enforcement Center in Pierre, in advance of a media tour of the facility and presentations on the ongoing course.
The state’s police academy has long been open to recruits from tribal law enforcement agencies. In practice, though, most attend the 13-week training through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) at a facility in Artesia, New Mexico.
After the basic course is complete, the tribal recruits will be offered an add-on course in tribal policing, which also typically takes place in Artesia and focuses on tribal policing. The BIA has offered its support to that portion of the training in South Dakota.
“The overall goal would be to not just have South Dakota tribal or South Dakota BIA officers here, but because we do such a good job, to expand it regionally,” Jackley said.
Born of controversy, history of recruitment trouble
Gov. Kristi Noem threw her support behind the idea of an additional basic law enforcement course that would prioritize tribal recruits this spring amid a flurry of controversy over statements she’d made on public safety on the state’s tribal lands.
Noem delivered a speech on border security during the winter legislative session that linked migration at the U.S.-Mexico border to cartel-related drug abuse and violence on reservations. Noem has claimed without evidence that some tribal leaders are “personally benefiting” from a cartel presence on the state’s reservations.
Tribes have pushed back on those claims. Leaders in all nine of South Dakota’s tribes have voted to ban her from their lands, citing the claims about cartels, as well as what they’ve described as disparaging comments Noem made about Native American children and parents.
Even so, tribal leaders have long decried a dearth of funding for public safety on reservations, which is a treaty obligation for the U.S. government.
The typical expectation that tribal recruits spend weeks away from their families in New Mexico has been a barrier to recruitment noted by tribal leaders, as well as Noem and members of South Dakota’s congressional delegation.
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, has called for the establishment of a Midwestern training center for the BIA, pointing to the state’s Mickelson Center as a prime partnership candidate for such an endeavor.
On Monday, Jackley praised Noem for throwing her support behind the current course, now in its sixth of 13 weeks.
“I had been asking for additional classes ever since I’ve been attorney general, and I want to give this governor credit,” Jackley said.
The new course is no different from any other basic law enforcement course offered in Pierre, aside from its goal of prioritizing the acceptance of tribal recruits.
U.S. attorney: consistent training, relationships aid prosecutions
The course, provided at no cost to local agencies, drew 11 tribal recruits from three tribes: the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Another 13 recruits joined them from agencies across the state to make a class of 24.
Ramsdell, whose office prosecutes all felony-level crimes that occur on reservations in South Dakota, also praised the decision to hold a tribal-priority training course. She said the basic training is valuable because it brings together officers from across the state to build the kinds of relationships necessary to work across jurisdictions.
There were more than 500 prosecutions led by Ramdell’s office last year, she said, with 220 originating in tribal areas. The office also prosecuted 140 people for drug trafficking.
“Our state really leads the nation on these stats,” Ramsdell said. “We’re often second or third after Arizona and Oklahoma in prosecuting violent crime in Indian Country.”
Ramsdell said she’d looked through the list of agencies represented by the recruits before coming to Pierre, and “over the last year and a half, we’ve worked with each one of them on really meaningful prosecutions.”
In a state as small as South Dakota, she said, cooperation and relationships are critical to public safety.
“I think it’s exemplary of the fact that everything we do starts locally, and without our local partners, we wouldn’t have the success we do at the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” she said.
That’s one of the reasons Jackley said he hopes to see the course pave a path for more tribal law enforcement training in the future.
A training ground near a recruit’s home allows them to get home to their families on weekends, ensures consistency for all officers working in South Dakota’s borders and builds connections between those officers.
“I think all those things make good sense as to why this should happen here,” Jackley said. “I think it’s why we have local officers teaching this class, why we have tribal officers and tribes willing to attend it, and why I think this is going to be a success.”
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STORRS, CT (WFSB) – The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team wraps up its homestand in the NCAA Tournament on Monday.
The 2nd-seeded Huskies take on 10th-seeded South Dakota State at 8 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Fans lined up some 30 hours before the game to get tickets.
UConn came off a 103-34 rout of Arkansas State on Saturday in the first round of the tournament.
Azzi Fudd led her team with 27 points, 7 assists, and 6 steals.
Sarah Strong garnered a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
As a team, the Huskies had 13 blocks, the most by UConn in an NCAA Tournament game.
Monday’s matchup with South Dakota State marked the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
The Jackrabbits defeated 7th-seeded Oklahoma State in their first round game. They rode a 20 game win streak into Monday might.
Brooklyn Meyer led their team with 17.4 points per game.
Stay with Channel 3 for continuing coverage.
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South Dakota
March Madness: South Dakota State, UConn can both call upon deep benches as they meet in 2nd round
If South Dakota State and UConn played in March Madness last season, neither team would have many options to summon players off the bench because neither had much dept due ot injuries.
What a difference a year makes. The two teams will meet on Monday night with a spot in the Sweet 16 at stake.
South Dakota State’s starters averaged from 28 to 31 minutes per game while UConn’s top six players were on the court for at least 30 minutes per game.
Heading into the second-round game, nobody from second-seeded UConn is averaging at least 30 minutes per game while 10 players for the Jackrabbits see more than 10 minutes per contest.
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“I’ve gotten so used to not having a full complement of players that I had forgotten that coaching is hard,” UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma said. “A lot of coaches have to make decisions on what’s my lineup going to look like. I haven’t had to make that decision in four years. I haven’t had to sub in four years. So, I haven’t had any (ticked) off players in four years. Everybody plays 40 minutes and they all love life.”
KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade started for a UConn team that reached the 2024 Final Four. With Azzi Fudd back after being limited to two games a season ago and Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen earning a starting role, they now come off the bench.
“Coming off the bench, you kind of emphasize that when you do when you go into the game, change the game when you are in there,” said Shade, who had 20 points in a first-round win over Arkansas State. “Just being a spark off the bench is something we take very seriously.”
South Dakota State guard Madison Mathiowetz (3) reacts in the second half against Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Jessica Hill/AP
South Dakota State head coach Aaron Johnston tightened the rotation up a bit in the NCAA opener with Oklahoma State as he went with mostly a seven-player rotation for the 10th-seeded Jackrabbits. He can go deeper into his bench if he wants to give the favored Huskies a different look.
“Rotations every year are always different just based on injuries, who’s available, things like that,” Johnston said. “So this year’s team, it’s worked out. We do have a lot of depth just because of things we’ve dealt with over the past couple years. We’ve had several players returning this year who have been starters for us at some point in their career.”
“I think we have the talent. We have the depth where we can go into our bench and feel like it’s really productive. But at the same time, we’ve got key players that really have to be on the floor and have to play well, too.”
Minnesota Stars Reunited In Storrs
When the NCAA women’s basketball bracket came out, the four Minnesota natives on the South Dakota State team took a few seconds to wonder what it would be like to go up against Minnesota basketball prodigy Paige Bueckers and the 11-time national champion UConn Huskies in the second round of the March Madness bracket.
They will get their wish.
“Paige Bueckers is an incredible player and we are excited to battle it out with them,” said South Dakota State guard Madison Mathiowetz, who didn’t play against Bueckers in either high school or AAU but could see plenty of her Monday night. “I watched in her AAU passing through the gym and on TV growing up. She is somebody who has put a lot of time into basketball.”
South Dakota State senior forward Kallie Theisen had plenty of games against Bueckers in high school. Now, they will meet one last time in what will be Bueckers’ final home game at UConn.
“I have had quite a few matchups with her over the years,” Theisen said. “It is fun to play her on college basketball’s biggest stage. It has come a little full circle.
“People are really drawn to her, she has been a great player since high school and she has a lot of eyes on her at all times and she handles it really well.”
So why are there so many girls’ basketball players from Minnesota who make an impact at high-profile programs?
“I attribute it a little to the cold weather and wanting to be inside,” Bueckers said. “I always found myself at the gym and I am sure a lot of people can say the same thing.
“It is great for the state of Minnesota, I have always said Minnesota is a basketball state. Everybody knows it as a hockey state but for us to play on this stage and in March Madness, it is everything you dream of as kids.”
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