South Dakota

Tribe disbands security task force, cites financial struggles • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

2 years ago

July 12, 2024

Tribe disbands security task force, cites financial struggles • South Dakota Searchlight

FORT THOMPSON — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has disbanded a security task force formed a year ago after the homicide of a young man in Fort Thompson.

Task force members were not sworn law enforcement officers, but responded to public safety incidents to de-escalate situations and provide aid.

The Crow Creek tribe doesn’t have its own police force. Many of South Dakota’s tribes do have their own police departments, but Crow Creek is among the tribes without one.

Crow Creek Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek said the hope was to transition the task force into a federally funded, tribally managed police force.

“That was one of the goals of this,” said Lengkeek, who added that the tribe remains interested in moving toward a local force.

Noem’s ‘banish the cartels’ obscures statewide drug problem, tribal leaders say

Officers with the federal government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services provide law enforcement services for Crow Creek and the neighboring Lower Brule Reservation. But Crow Creek leaders have argued that BIA officers aren’t always able to respond to calls in a timely fashion. The tribe declared a state of emergency after the killing of a young man in 2023 and launched its task force.

Task force members were paid by the tribe and received training from a private security firm headquartered on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The dissolution of the task force follows the election of three new members last month to the tribe’s seven-member council. Lengkeek, who retained his seat, confirmed this week that the security task force has been disbanded.

In May, Lengkeek told South Dakota Searchlight he’d hoped to be able to fund the force through the tribe’s marijuana dispensary business and its farming operations. But he also said that “we need to get some funding” to keep the force going.

This week, Lengkeek said the endeavor was not fiscally sustainable without federal support.

Lengkeek said he met with the state’s congressional delegation, and “made them well aware of the situation in the state of emergency and asked them to take the state of emergency where it needs to go for consideration and funding.”

“None of this has happened and no communication has come back to the tribe on the status of this,” Lengkeek said.

Congressional reaction

The Department of Interior’s BIA, Lengkeek said, has yet to address the issue. Questions sent by South Dakota Searchlight to the BIA on the matter early this week had not been returned as of Friday.

Members of the state’s congressional delegation have addressed public safety in tribal areas directly in several forums and formats over the past year.

Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson and Republican Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for more public safety funding for tribes in a June 2023 letter.

Rounds sent another letter to Interior in December, and another to the Government Accountability Office in March, in that case asking a series of pointed questions about budgets and calls for service he said have been left unanswered by Interior. In April, he sent a letter requesting a meeting on a regional BIA law enforcement training center, and he signed on to a bipartisan letter from senators in May asking for a budget increase for tribal public safety.

Also in May, he talked about tribes setting up their own ad hoc security forces during a congressional hearing.

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek, left, and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Clyde Estes, right, with U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, in November 2023. (Courtesy of Rep. Johnson’s office)

“In response to the police shortages, some residents of tribal communities have even resorted to establishing citizen patrols to look out for crime,” Rounds told Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland during a May oversight hearing by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Rep. Johnson had a virtual meeting with Crow Creek leadership last August. A spokesperson for his office pointed out that while the emergency declaration had no specific ask for funding, Johnson has also pushed for a regional law enforcement training center, and has called for a congressional field hearing on tribal land.

“Tribal communities are desperate for relief … The federal government [should honor] the commitment we made and work to meet the law enforcement needs of Indian Country,” Johnson said in a press release on the field hearing request.

Johnson’s office also referenced letters to the House Interior Appropriations Committee that directly referenced public safety emergency declarations from Crow Creek and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Backdrop of controversy

The launch of Crow Creek’s task force came about seven months before Gov. Kristi Noem gave a speech to lawmakers linking illegal border crossings to alleged drug cartel activity on reservations. Lengkeek and other tribal leaders pushed back on the speech and Noem’s later comments suggesting that some tribal leaders are “personally benefiting” from a drug cartel presence on their lands.

Yolanda Aguilar, Crow Creek tribal secretary, was a member of the task force and remains a member of the tribe’s suicide response team, a volunteer group that came before the security task force and will continue on in its wake.

Tribal members divided about banning Noem, united in need for better public safety

Aguilar said it’s unfortunate that the task force is over, but said she and other members won’t waste their training. If she sees a situation and she feels that she can help, she doesn’t plan to ignore it.

“I’m still going to help out,” she said. “It’s about being a good neighbor.”

Jennifer Wounded Knee, who lives near the location of the 2023 homicide that preceded the task force’s creation, said it’s a shame the group has disbanded. Wounded Knee didn’t see it as an adequate replacement for law enforcement, but it helped.

“When they would drive by, people would kind of disperse,” Wounded Knee said.

Fort Thompson resident Alphonso Drapeau said in the end, the force wasn’t able to move the needle on violence in the community.

“We’ve still got gang violence over here,” Drapeau said.

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South Dakota

Where to watch SDSU at South Dakota men’s basketball today, time, TV

Published

2 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch SDSU at South Dakota men’s basketball today, time, TV

The South Dakota State men’s basketball team has a chance to get some payback against South Dakota today in both teams’ final game before the Summit League Tournament begins.

The Jackrabbits (14-16, 7-8 Summit League) have won three of four and just beat Kansas City 73-59 on Thursday, Feb. 26. The Coyotes (15-15, 7-8) are headed in the opposite direction, having stopped a three-game skid with an 89-72 win over Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Here’s how to watch the two rivals battle again.

South Dakota State at South Dakota men’s basketball TV, radio, stream

Radio: Jackrabbit Sports Network, Coyote Sports Network

Stream: Summit League Network

South Dakota State at South Dakota time today

Location: Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion

South Dakota State at South Dakota prediction

Paul Cifonelli, Argus Leader: Like the first time these two teams met, this is a matchup between two squads headed in different directions. Somehow, they’ve managed to flip roles in just three weeks.

South Dakota looks like it is running out of steam quickly after impressing and threatening the third spot in the Summit League in early February. South Dakota State has rebounded from losing five of six nicely, giving themselves a chance at hitting .500 on the season.

I expect the Jackrabbits to continue playing inspired and hard, and for them to overwhelm a Coyote side that has shown more fight than anyone could’ve imagined.

South Dakota State 73, South Dakota 65

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Mega Millions, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Feb. 27, 2026

Published

14 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Feb. 27, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

11-18-39-43-67, Mega Ball: 23

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

03-04-13-28-42, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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