Brandon Ecoffey
A Note from the editor’s desk
By Brandon Ecoffey
LCT Editor The Rapid City police Department has created a brand new position whose duties will partly be to head up a new Cultural Advisory Committee that “will represent all races and cultures, with an emphasis on representing the Native American members of our community,” and that will “meet regularly to provide support, input, cultural understanding, and achievable recommendations to advance beyond the RCPD’s current working relationship between the department and the community.” The newly formed position will be filled by Cheyenne River citizen Vaughn Vargas, who will also advise the Chief of the Rapid City Police Department on issues of race and other community concerns. The move is a step in the right direction and the selection of Vargas as the person to fill the position is the correct one. The task facing Vargas is immense. How do you create a relationship between the police and the Native community out of thin air and in spite of an already present level of hostility over recent shootings and treatment of Native people in the city and the former Chief of Police’s (and current Rapid City Mayor) overtly racist comments about Native people? I would caution people to have the utmost faith in Vargas, who has already proved himself as an effective community organizer and bridge builder, but to also temper their expectations of what this new position can accomplish. Mr. Vargas’s position will allow the Rapid City PD to see a young professional Native American male on a daily basis thus breaking down possible stereotypes. The department will also have someone that can advise them on cultural norms of Native people allowing a bit of understanding to reach beyond the brass shield. What his position will not do is work miracles.
Vaughn Vargas is heading up the new Cultural Advisory Committee for the police department in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Much of the tension that exists between law enforcement and minority communities is based in the truth that the laws that are enforced in minority communities are not only different but also enforced differently. Where as petty drug arrest and incidents of intoxication are often called in as emergencies needing the attention of swat teams and firearms: When was the last time you saw uniformed officers enforce a tax violation by breaking down a door or throwing a percussion grenade through a window? At a community level the new position can do plenty of good but the ultimate problem lies within the law. Much of the crime that occurs within minority communities is the result of addiction, poverty, marginalization, and lack of opportunity. Cities and state government’s can create as many positions as they want but until the socio-economic playing field is leveled by lawmakers these crimes will exists and those who are responsible for enforcing the law in poverty stricken communities will continue to be the face of the oppressor. City, federal and state governments need to come to the aid of their officers, not by arming them to the teeth, but by working to create communities that have enough positive opportunities to allow for them to shed the illegal ones. Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of LCT and an award winning journalist who is an enrolled citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of Lakota Country Times and an award winning journalist who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He can be reached at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.
Related Stories
Lakota Country Times: Police aim to improve race
relations (7/24)
Join the Conversation
