RAPID CITY, S.D. – Emergency services on the Oglala Sioux Tribe are still facing staffing shortages, although officials say there has been slight improvement.
NewsCenter1 caught up with Chief of Police Jason Lone Hill while he was in Rapid City for the Indigenous Peoples’ Day parade, where his department worked to connect with the public and find new recruits.
In 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety had only 33 police officers, well below the estimated 112 officers needed for the size of the reservation. Chief Lone Hill reports that current staffing is just over 40 officers divided between patrols, criminal investigators, and highway safety…