Crow Creek Security Task force works to keep community safe

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has taken tribal security into its own hands by creating a security task force. The task force was created last summer after a murder in the community to pick up the slack that they feel the federal government has left behind.

“Nobody is coming to save us, and so we had to take things into our own hands,” Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek said. “The federal government does have treaty obligations and trust obligations to us, and they’re failing miserably.”

The tribe worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and state highway officers to get more law enforcement support on the reservation. They’ve had a hard time spreading the already thin resources even further.

The security task force has been trained in CPR, first aid, Narcan, tasers, mental health crises, and de-escalation. While the task force does not make arrests, they record crimes and report them to the proper authorities.

According to Lengkeek, the task force has already saved lives.

“We are so lucky that, that, we uh, got them certified in CPR because that came in handy a week later. They had to revive a young man, and uh, on one of the scenes and our security task force was able to jump in and administer CPR and bring this young man back to life.” Lengkeek said.

The biggest challenge for this task force has been funding. The tribe has taken on the financial load of staffing the task force and certifying members themselves.

“Because the tribe is carrying this program financially we can’t put ‘em on every night,” Lengkeek explained. The task force is only on duty from Thursday through Sunday. “Certifications had to be obtained...we didn’t want to put just anyone out there without any type of training or knowledge.”

Additionally, Lengkeek said he knows that even if the security task force were to run out of funding, community volunteers would still take shifts and make sure people could count on them for safety.

Other tribes are following Crow Creek’s lead and creating security programs to help keep their communities safe, according to Lengkeek.

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