PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Three of the tribal officers now enrolled in South Dakota’s 13-week law enforcement program say one of the things they like about coming to Pierre rather than going to a federal site in New Mexico for training is that they can return to their communities on weekends and spend time with family members and friends.
Michelle Casiano and Ashaun Roach-Valandra from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Law Enforcement Services and Akia Winters from the Oglala Sioux Department of Public Safety spoke with news reporters Monday, as the South Dakota Office of Attorney General took the rare step of allowing a glimpse into the otherwise-closed training.
Reporters saw trainees practicing steps for taking control of a suspect and learning to shoot pistols at targets. They also engaged in simulations where deadly force was required.
Roach-Valandra, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has also been to the BIA school in Artesia, New Mexico. “The biggest advantage of coming here is I get to go home every weekend and be around my community,” he said. “I really like it here, because you’re in South Dakota, and it just helps a lot being around other tribal law enforcement officers as well while we’re here, so we’re not just singled out. It helps a lot.”
For Winters, “The biggest advantage is, yeah, I get to go home and see my kids and my wife.” He said they all could have gone to New Mexico “but the state accepted our applications first.”
Hank Prim is the training coordinator for the state Division of Criminal Investigation that puts on the South Dakota courses. He told reporters that tribal law enforcement agencies send applications for officers simultaneously to the federal and state programs “and it’s just a matter of who picks them up first.”
Casiano said that, for her, the advantage of the Pierre program was “definitely” spending more time with her family. “Being a mother of three, it definitely helped me be there for my kids and still do what I want to do and pursue my dream of being a law enforcement officer, as well as spending time with my husband,” she said.
“Different adventures every weekend and trying new things” for Casiano have meant trying different places in the area to eat or taking a helicopter ride for an up-close view of Mount Rushmore National Monument and hiking the Black Elk Peak trail.
Governor Kristi Noem invited tribal law agencies to send officers to the training and last month held a closed-door summit at the Governor’s Residence for tribal, state and federal law enforcement agencies to discuss challenges on reservations such as inadequate federal funding. Three of the nine tribal governments sent 11 officers to the current training, the most so far.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who oversees the DCI, showcased the program on Monday. U.S. Attorney for South Dakota Alison Ramsdell joined him.
“Having it local makes sense because it builds local relationships. Having it local makes sense because those officers attending the training are going to be able to go back and see family. Making it local makes sense because of the consistency — when a deputy sheriff from a county shows up and there’s a tribal officer, they’ve had the same simulator training, they’ve had the same criminal law training and know when you need to get a warrant and when you don’t in South Dakota. So I think all those things make good sense why it should happen here.”
Said Ramsdell, “My invitation and my support exemplify the partnerships that happen every day between federal and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. Attorney General Jackley talked about that partnership growing out of courses like this. I think that partnership is also found in our shared mission, and that is to promote public safety throughout South Dakota. At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we promote public safety in every corner of the state and throughout Indian country. We do that in partnership with our local, federal, tribal and state law enforcement agencies.”
Jackley was appointed as U.S. attorney for South Dakota in 2006. In 2009, then-Governor Mike Rounds appointed him as state attorney general. He won election and later re-election, serving until January 2019. He won election at attorney general again in 2022.
“There have been tribal officers attending the tribal class. What is unique about what is happening now is the governor put a priority on having a class dedicated to tribal officers, and we appreciate that,” Jackley said. “I had been asking for additional classes ever since I’ve been attorney general and I want to give this governor credit — she was the first one that not only supported it, she asked me if we’d be willing to do it. And I think that’s important to keep in mind.”
Jackley said, in his opinion, South Dakota has the best training program for law enforcement officers, because all come to one place. “Having consistent training, knowing what the other officers are doing, is important,” he said.
Jackley would like to open the training to tribal agencies in other states.
“The goal overall I have as attorney general is to not just take this South Dakota tribal training, but take it to the next level. Of course, that’s going to take our federal partners — not just the U.S. attorney and the BIA, but our United States senators. I know that Senator Rounds specifically has been working very heavily on this. I’ve helped pen letters to him. I know he’s working through that,” Jackley said.
He continued, “But the overall goal would be to not just have South Dakota tribal or South Dakota BIA officers here, but because we do such a good job, is to expand it regionally. And why that makes sense for South Dakota is, number one it will give us more efficient and effective training, it will give us more resources including federal resources, and I think those are good things, especially as we continue to move forward.”
