Law enforcement
Quiet scanners add another layer of opaqueness to law enforcement
Police are called on to “protect and serve.” In South Dakota that’s what they do, but they do it on their own terms. Too often those terms lack transparency. This became apparent again recently with the announcement that on Nov. 13, privately owned police scanners in the state’s two largest counties would go quiet as […]
Migrant officers flock to South Dakota police departments
Hours before the sun rose over Champaign, Illinois, on the morning of May 19, 2021, Champaign Police Officer Chris Oberheim and his partner were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance. Darion Lafayette was there to meet them and exchanged fire with both officers, killing Oberheim. Lafayette was also killed. Within a day, the […]
State panel suspends Brookings police officer for slamming man against wall
SIOUX FALLS — A Brookings police officer will be suspended for a year after throwing an intoxicated man against a wall without warning when the man insulted him. Damian Weets, a 12-year police veteran in Brookings, will be eligible for recertification as a South Dakota law enforcement officer in a year, provided he undergoes a […]
Law enforcement commission offers forgiveness for marijuana use
Two law enforcement hopefuls were offered forgiveness for cannabis use by the South Dakota Law Enforcement Officers Standards Commission on Wednesday in Pierre. The vote for Parkston Police Officer Kody Beckers makes him eligible for certification in the state in spite of a seven-year-old guilty plea to THC wax possession during his freshman year of […]