Crime surge prompts Rounds to ask Biden for law enforcement help on Pine Ridge
Oglala Sioux have no capacity to lock up new offenders, senator says
A rash of recent violent crime on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation prompted Sen. Mike Rounds to make an emergency request to the Biden administration this week for help.
“A series of violent events on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have put tribal members in an extremely dangerous situation,” Rounds wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “In late December, tribal officers responded to several violent crimes, including the fatal shooting of a juvenile and a double homicide.”
Rounds noted in his letter that the Oglala Sioux Tribe had run out of capacity to jail additional offenders. Meanwhile, tribal residents are living in fear, and leaders have extended a state of emergency.
