U.S. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota has engaged with Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum regarding the establishment of a tribal law enforcement training center in the Great Plains region. This initiative comes in response to concerns about the current requirement for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) tribal law enforcement officers to undergo extensive training at a facility located in New Mexico, which can last up to six months.
Tribal leaders have expressed that the distance and duration of this training pose significant challenges to recruiting new officers, exacerbating an existing shortage in the Great Plains area. Last summer, a collaboration between the BIA and the State of South Dakota led to a successful local training program at the George S. Mickelson Criminal Justice Center in Pierre, resulting in nine graduates from three different tribes.
Senator Rounds highlighted staffing issues faced by Great Plains tribal law enforcement agencies, noting that some have as few as two officers covering vast areas during shifts. He asked Secretary Burgum if there could be cooperation to fund additional training spots locally to avoid long-distance travel for recruits.
Secretary Burgum acknowledged previous successful collaborations on advanced training at Camp Grafton, North Dakota, and expressed support for adding basic training there as well. “Adding basic training there I think would be helpful for recruiting for northern plains tribes and I’d be fully supportive of that,” he stated.
In addition to discussing law enforcement training, Senator Rounds also addressed other issues with Secretary Burgum, including the creation of a tribal violent crime commission and establishing a formal mediation process for fence line disputes involving landowners and the United States Forest Service.
