Rep. Dusty Johnson calls for hearings into lack of law enforcement on reservations

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South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson is calling on a House Appropriations Subcommittee to hold field hearings in Indian Country amid growing cries for more law enforcement.

In a letter dated Dec. 4, Johnson addressed Rep. Mike Simpson, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, and its ranking member, Rep. Chellie Pingree. He said the number one concern among leaders of the nine tribes in South Dakota “is the dismal state of law enforcement.”

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He noted that Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Police Chief Algin Young testified in front of the subcommittee in March that his 33 officers routinely work 80 hours of overtime a month in a service area nearly as large as Connecticut.

“Tribal citizens are fed up and worried about the increasing levels of violent crime,” Johnson said in the letter. “I respectfully request the Subcommittee hold field hearings on the lack of law enforcement on Indian reservations to hear from tribal leaders in the Great Plains about this dire emergency.”

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