OST suit seeks increased law enforcement funding

RAPID CITY—A fundamental misunderstanding persists on the part of the United States toward Indian tribes in general, but the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) specifically, and that is the insistence that treaty and trust obligations can be administered like they were federal discretionary programs. OST begs to differ, and asserts the United States is compelled to provide whatever peace treaties stipulate until and unless these treaties are altered by Act of Congress. In the specific case of treaty obligated funds to maintain law and order on the Pine Ridge Reservation, no Congressional Act has altered the treaty obligated funding and so the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) has taken the federal government to court.

The official name of the filing is Case 5:22-cv-05066-KES, a 68-page document filed on 10/04/22. On page seven, OST makes very clear what the issue is: “…law enforcement activities are not a discretionary federal program which the Defendants can chose to operate or not operate, or chose to operate at a minimal level. They are instead a treaty and trust obligation, the primary responsibility for which has been assigned to the Secretary of the Interior.”

For this reason, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is the first person named in the suit, and OST contends that the federal government is obligated “to provide sufficient resources to ensure competent reporting and investigation of all crimes, and the arrest and punishment of all offenders who violate federal law and (pursuant to federal statute) tribal law, or otherwise threaten or harm the Tribe or its property, or the person or property of any Tribal member.”

On page 21, OST tackles the “Consequences of the Defendant’s Failures.” They point out that “at 3.1 million acres, the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Pine Ridge Reservation is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.” To cover this area, OST has funding for 33 officers and seven criminal investigators. “Applying the BIA’s 2.8 officers per 1,000 persons standard,” OST reasons on page 23, “to the actual Pine Ridge Service Population requires that the Tribe, with a law enforcement service population of 40,000 individuals, have a minimum of 112 police officers.”

This forces any shift to have only 6-8 officers, and OST claims this causes “extraordinary danger to the law enforcement officers who are working unreasonable amounts of overtime, patrolling alone, and responding to dangerous calls for service without proper backup.” Additionally, “the volume of E-911 calls, combined with an inadequate number of police officers, is forcing police officers to drive from call to call at high speeds, endangering both the officer and the public.”

Police response time often exceeds a half hour, even in cases when there are “imminent threats of harm.”

Even after officers arrive, “…crimes are not timely or adequately investigated, and witness statements and other evidence are not collected properly, thereby endangering federal and tribal prosecutions and convictions.”

The ripple effect of inadequate law enforcement resources impacts schools, “because of gang violence on the reservation,” and health care costs, “because of the increased number of overdoses and injuries sustained from assaults, domestic violence and other crimes.” The tribal economy is hurt, “as new businesses are not attracted to high crime areas. The businesses that are located on the reservation must spend additional funds to protect their employees and property.”

OST asserts all of the above negative impact is escalating: “In 2022, there has been an increase in the number of murders, assaults and increased drug trafficking activity that has created a public safety crisis…”

OST’s first claim for relief is that the federal government is legally obligated “to provide for and to ensure competent and effective law enforcement..”

The second claim is: “the Tribe requests a Declaratory Judgement that the defendants have a trust obligation to provide an accounting to the tribe of the funds and uses of funds appropriated to Defendants by Congress for law enforcement services from 1998 to the present time.”

The third through sixth claims deal with the declination of many services. The seventh claims is that the Tribe is entitled to declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedure Act.

A federal judge, Roberto Lange, will render a decision on the case, and has stated that “this court has quite a bit to think about.”

OST President Frank Star Comes Out has said “For decades and decades and decades we’ve been ignored, put on the back burner,” he said. “Today we’re taking that stand, not only as a tribe but as a nation, and speaking for Indian Country that we need to be heard.”

One finally statistic that highlights the problem is that the city of Rapid City has 176 officers to cover a much smaller area that answers less calls than the Pine Ridge Reservation. Rapid City residents have five times the law enforcement coverage of reservation residents.

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com)

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