PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, SD (KELO-AM) South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune (R) rode shotgun with the Pine Ridge Police Chief on Wednesday to see how they handle the crime problem on the vast reservation.
He jokes that he didn't bust anyone or anything, but it was a real eye-opener riding with Police Chief Eugenio White Hawk..
"He said that they have the same number of calls that they have to respond to, an equal number to Rapid City and almost as many as Sioux Falls," Thune told KELO Radio after the ride-along. Thune says that's stunning when you consider that Pine Ridge has only about 30 officers to cover some 3 million acres.
They made a point of driving just across the South Dakota border to Whiteclay, Nebraska, notorious for existing for little more than selling booze to Native Americans. Liquor sales are illegal on the reservation itself.
"Nothing but liquor stores and bars," says Thune,"and just an awful lot of alcoholism. Just a sad, sad deal."
Thune says the ride-along was a reminder of how government needs to "double down" on efforts to help get the resources and law enforcement officers that Pine Ridge needs.
One of the country's largest Indian reservations, Pine Ridge is dealing with a meth epidemic and a rash of suicides, among its many, many challenges.
.