Community Policing with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety

As part of a comprehensive national initiative to support local law enforcement agencies in their response to critical issues, NCPI provided direct technical assistance to the Pine Ridge Reservation (SD) law enforcement agency, at their request, in partnership with the COPS Office.

Unique Challenges

Several years ago, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety (OSTDPS) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota faced many challenges in providing police services on the 3.1-million-acre reservation; a land mass larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

OSTDPS was seeking:

  • officer wellness resources amid a dramatic increase in youth suicides
  • support to overcome officer recruitment and retention issues
  • ways to engage the community to fight crime, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, trauma, and other public safety issues.

Tapping into Intrinsic Cultural Beliefs

In addressing the challenges facing the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has turned to Akicita; a community-based approach to public safety that has been a part of the Lakota people for centuries.

Throughout Lakota history, the Akicita Society consisted of a band of tribal men that roamed through the camps issuing justice and caring for the community. An Akicita position came with great respect and great responsibility and was a lifetime commitment.

The Akicita are the guardians; the protectors of the people.

Akicita is an intrinsic part of the Pine Ridge community and a shared responsibility among all community members. It builds on the natural laws surrounding the Lakota people.

(Akicita) takes a lot of the natural management styles that you would learn from herds, from movements of herds, from leadership in herds. It’s intrinsic. It’s what helped guide us a long time ago and helped us define our roles as community members and how we would move and flow with the environment.

— Monica Terkildsen, Development & Compliance, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Department of Public Safety

Hope for the Future in Remembering the Past

Taking all these factors into account, the OSTDPS and the Tribal Council decided that they needed to reintroduce the concept of Akicita to the people of the Oglala Sioux nation.

The concept had fallen by the wayside and the tribal leaders wanted to reinvigorate the community, to protect one another, and to step in when appropriate by providing guidance, mentorship, and kindness.

Through our discussions with OSTDPS, we established many connections between Akicita and the contemporary philosophy of community-oriented policing. Community policing binds the police and the public into a single force for peace, safety, and the good of the community. For the Lakota, this is not a new concept.

By reintroducing Akicita, the OSTDPS hoped to have community members actively participating in life on the reservation while ensuring the safety of everyone.

Tailored Solutions for Complex Needs

Over the course of several months, NCPI worked with OSTDPS and the COPS Office to develop and deliver a multi-faceted response specific to the unique aspects of Lakota culture in Pine Ridge.

The initial focus of the partnership was to address the impact of youth suicides occurring on the reservation on the officers and the community; however, it quickly became evident that the needs of the OSTDPS extended beyond this one area of concern.

Our approach included:

  • mental health and wellness training for officers
  • peer-to-peer support system for leadership
  • video production services to support community engagement, recruitment, and morale

The collaborative work was made possible through NCPI’s role as a designated TTA provider for the COPS Office Critical Response Initiative, a targeted on-site assistance program for law enforcement agencies dealing with incidents, events, or sensitive issues.

Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related.)

NCPI developed a seven-minute film, called Mitakuye Oyasin, which helped reintroduce the Akicita concept to its people. This film depicts the historical context and its application to both modern day life on the reservation and the forward-thinking public safety vision.

The intention of the film is to evoke a sense of pride and public responsibility in both the community and the tribal law enforcement personnel. In addition, the film explores the intersection with community policing.

The film was utilized in community gatherings and posted on the agency’s website where it was viewed thousands of times in the months following its release.

Mitakuye Oyasin continues to have the potential to be used in a multitude of ways—including as a recruitment tool, in community mobilization, and in youth programs— to instill a sense of community policing, responsibility, and pride.