Tribune Editorial

Project Dakota Peacemaker - putting a "surge" of law enforcement officers on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation - has provided people living there with some relief from rampant crime.

The project has, by nearly every account, succeeded. After two months of work by 20 extra officers, with nine already in place, more than 1,000 arrests had been made. The number of ongoing arrests are beginning to taper off.

To feel safe in your home and neighborhood might seem basic to many Tribune readers, but that hasn't been the case on Standing Rock. Crime married to the issues of unemployment and poverty have made living there anything but easy and safe.

Originally a three-month program, now stretched to four and scheduled to end in September, Dakota Peacemaker has been funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But isn't a part of the regular budget. The Tribune reported that BIA Deputy Director of Justice Pat Ragsdale cobbled together funding for Dakota Peacemaker from other programs. The price tag: $1 million.

Lots of programs have been tried on reservations in the United States and few of them have proven effective or shown lasting results. Despite success by individual Native Americans, a goodly percentage of the reservation populations have been a part of the same old bad stories of poverty and its associated ills for a long time.

The initial effectiveness of Dakota Peacemaker suggests it should be continued beyond September. That the lawless on Standing Rock know there are legal consequence for criminal behavior. That the law-abiding feel the protection of the law.

Given a certain amount of peace on Standing Rock, it would be hoped that a long-term solution to public safety issues there could be found. And perhaps a people no longer fearful could find the resolve to deal with other critical issues.

As to costs: The expense of Project Dakota Peacemaker pales when compared to the ongoing price of the violence and crime on the reservation - a price paid by all Americans.

However, all the costs should not fall on the BIA alone. The tribal government should increase its financial contribution to "The Surge."

Making Standing Rock safe would go a long way toward restoring hope on the reservation.

A U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing, chaired by Sen. Bryon Dorgan, was held in Fort Yates on Standing Rock on Monday. "Hopefully, we can negotiate some reasonable level of funding," Dorgan said.

The Tribune would like to see that happen.