Rounds pushes for change to lower South Dakota crime

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) – In a letter sent to the Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds urged immediate action to address the pressing issue of law enforcement training.

Currently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs mandates that a majority of tribal law enforcement officers go to training at a facility in New Mexico. The distance has made it difficult to recruit enough law enforcement officers in South Dakota. That’s forced tribal leaders to declare states of emergency due to high crime, something Rounds finds unacceptable.

“If we can make it easier for them to get trained, it means a higher percentage of them will complete their training, and if they complete their training here within the state and if they actually get acquainted with other law enforcement officers during their training, it gives us a better chance of actually keeping and retaining them long-term within the state and keeping them on the reservations, which is where a lot of them have their homes right now,” said Rounds.

There is hope that the establishment of a tribal law enforcement training center can bring down the high crime rates.

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