Oglala Sioux Tribe Looks at New Plan for Police Story-Date: 11:46 a.m. PST Sunday , August 31, 1997 Oglala Sioux Tribe Looks at New Plan for PoliceIndian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News PINE RIDGE, S.D.--Sept. 1--Terminating Public Safety's executive administration, abolishing its review boards, and eliminating the executive capacity of the Public Safety Commission are just a few of the changes the Oglala Sioux Tribe Restructuring Committee are proposing. The OST Tribal Council ordered an independent assessment after complaints of alleged waste, fraud and abuse involving the operations of OST Public Safety. Tribal members have increasingly become more and more agitated by unanswered complaints, lack of police protection, claims of police officers abusing their power, growing problems with gangs and assaults on individual tribal members, according to a recent report issued by the OST Restructuring Committee. The OST Tribal Council created the committee to answer the complaints and develop a recommendation for the restructuring of the OST Public Safety program. The OST Restructuring Committee has been meeting since June 13, and on Aug. 5, finished their project. ``It will ensure that a police officer is just minutes away when anyone calls,'' said Vincent Brewer Sr., a member of the OST Restructuring Committee. The proposal is set to go be reviewed by OST Tribal Council on Sept. 9-10. Evert Little White Man, coordinator for the OST Restructuring Committee, expects the proposal to be passed by tribal council. The OST Public Safety and the OST Public Safety Review Boards each have their own restructuring committees working on a proposal which will be presented before the tribal council when it's finished. ``It's my understanding that these committees don't see eye to eye,'' said OST President John Steele. The OST Restructuring Committee is recommending to the tribal council that Tribal Ordinance 76-12, which created OST Public Safety in 1976, be repealed and re-established as OST Department of Public Safety. The OST Department of Public Safety will become centralized under one administration. The new commission will be called the OST Public Safety Advisory Board. The advisory board won't be involved in the day to day operations of the department.f Instead, it will be limited to an advisory capacity. The restructuring committee found that the Public Safety Commission became too political in taking over the day to day operations of the department. The District Review Board system will be abolished. The committee reported that the District Review Board had allowed its political power to override the police department. The Police Commission and District Review Boards have the responsibility of hiring and firing personnel, but the restructuring committee claimed the two boards abused their authority. ``My view is that the Review Boards are an extension of Public Safety and a linkage to the community. They are not selected, they are elected by their community,'' said Mr. Weston, Public Safety Assistant Director. Firing the department's administrators including the police chief, captain of police and the administrative assistant were also among its recommendations. ``Everyone will be terminated except for the working staff, police officers, jailers, and dispatchers,'' said Mr. Little White Man. The positions will be advertised and those who now occupy the three jobs will be allowed to apply for the vacancies. The committee also recommended the forming of an executive committee. Under the plan, a director for Public Safety will be hired for a five year period to assume all administrative duties of the Department of Public Safety. The Chief of Police will be the top-ranking supervisor and concentrate supervision and disciplining the police officers. The plan calls for a new Traffic Services Section Unit with stations in Pine Ridge and Kyle staffed by three police officers at each station. The department will add 32 vehicles to its 28-car fleet. While examining the needs of the department, the Restructuring Committee was unable to obtain financial records to document spending at the department. Themembers asked for payroll records including stipend amounts and other budget line tiems. OST Public Safety was required to give the Restructuring Committee all they needed by the tribal council, but failed to do so. ``We never gave the financial records to them because they are confidential, I can't legally do it because of the privacy act, `` said Paul Rooks, OST Chief of Police. Mr. Steele says he did order Public Safety to cooperate with the Restructuring Committee and says they did hand over some records, but not all of them. ``They cooperated the first time, after that I was told the Restructuring Committee would go on without them,'' said Mr. Steele. The Restructuring Committee didn't ask for confidential information. The members requested budget and payroll information, which is considered public record under the federal Freeedom of Information Act. The Restructuring Committee's report charged that ``the OST Public Safety Commission and Administration was involved in gross financial mismanagement of the more than $5.5 million in annual operating funds.'' Further, the committee found that there are sufficient operating funds through federal grants and contracts, but there were questionable expenditures and accounting practices that created deficits. The Public Safety Department had $6 million in federal funds allocated for fiscal year 1996 -- by May all the BIA funds had run out, said Mr. Little White Man. Mr. Little White Man claimed the department isn't meeting payroll. Every pay day, which is every other week, Public Safety alone pays out $168,000. There is a reimbursement schedule that must be followed by Public Safety to provide information to the Department of Justice. However, the report stated that for several months reimbursements weren't paid throwing the department into a financial crisis. Mr. Weston disputed Mr. Little White Man's claims. The department is in a ``transition period''. ``We are changing from reimbursements to a system where we can get advances or a line of credit. Mr. Weston denied spending irregularities and said the finance department monitors the department closely. The OST Restructuring Committee called for an immediate audit of the OST Public Safety by the Department of the Inspector General because of its failure to comply with its request for the financial records and its difficulties meeting budgetary demands. Tied to the department's finacial problems is a 48-mile restriction placed on officers per shift limiting the officers' ability to respond to calls. The committee recommended a 250 mile restriction per shift. Mr. Weston said there isn't a restriction on mileage per shift and police officers do average 250-300 miles per shift. But that 48 miles is the average used as a budgetary figure. Meanwhile, the department is working with the budget and trying to shift funds to pay for mileage and gas, said Mr. Weston . ``It's ludicrous that anyone would do that, it's just a picture to work with,'' Mr. Weston said. The new plan will include four shifts instead of the three shifts now in place. Sixteen officers will be available per shift to cover the reservation There are now 18 to 27 officers on-duty during each shift, Mr. Weston said. The Restructuring Committee cited the filing ofseveral civil lawsuits against the Public Safety Commission because of the mistreatment and abuse of tribal members. The report also recommended incentive pay for veteran officers and those who have completed further education. Some officers who have worked at public safety for 10 years are paid the same as an officer who has worked there for six months. ----- ON THE INTERNET: Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------