Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
The entire tribal police force for the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas has resigned, except for one officer, as of December 4. The last remaining officer placed his two-week notice that day.
According to the December 18 Horton City Council meeting minutes, Kickapoo Chairwoman Gail Cheatham informed the council that three of the four tribal officers resigned when Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement personnel arrived in Horton to complete an assessment of the department.
The department chief and lieutenant resigned without notice within hours of the BIA’s arrival. A regular officer also resigned without notice that day. A second regular officer placed his two-week notice of resignation that day.
While the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducts interviews for new police officers, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Brown County Sheriff’s Department are currently patrolling the reservation, according to the meeting minutes. Additionally, members of the Kickapoo Fire Department are EMS-certified and will assist in servicing emergency calls.
“We are and always have been providing criminal patrol and jurisdiction on tribal land,” Brown County Sherriff John Merchant said in a phone call. “The Kickapoo people have never been nor will ever be without police protection from the Brown County Sherriff’s Department.”
Kansas is a Public Law 280 state, allowing for non-tribal, state police forces to have jurisdiction over reservations in criminal cases.
Merchant said on January 3 the Kickapoo Police Department hired a new police chief, but was unable to comment on whether any of the other three open positions had been filled.
The Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas Chairwoman’s Office and Kickapoo Tribe Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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