Since former police commandant, now Mayor Steve Allender, decided to chuck his chair for the private sector the town has admitted it's on meth.
“So we’ve had police officers in the parking lot when shootings have occurred. They’ve heard the shots. And a SWAT team was assembling and preparing to go serve warrants in that area when shots were heard. It’s just a very troubled neighborhood. We’ve literally, at this point, tried everything we know of. And so, obviously we need to try a different route,” Allender said. Allender says that seeing more deaths in the Surfwood and Maple area can be demoralizing for city residents and officers. It also damages the city’s reputation. “The problem is if you force people to live in an environment, unsuitable for animals, pretty soon you’re going to get behavior that will match that environment. Environment is really everything. That’s where we need the property management mangers and the owners to step up and invest into this thing and take this seriously.” [“We’ve exhausted essentially every tool we have at our disposal:” How Rapid City officials are trying to reverse the trend of crime in the Surfwood and Maple area]That Serenity Dennard was lured away by Bandidos or some other motorcycle club with help from the Children’s Home Society crossed my mind very early in her disappearance.
Just Sage Place apartments alone, over the last three years, had 157 violent instances. Most other apartment complexes of similar size average about 43. But police say it’s not the people who live in these apartment buildings who are causing the violent issues. The Sage Place apartments, formerly known as Knollwood Heights, recently got new owners and management — now there are signs on the building promising that change is coming. [Rapid City neighborhood plagued with violence]In one of his last efforts before he left as US Attorney for the District of South Dakota Ron Parsons announced the indictment of 37 people including three Mexican nationals then US District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken sentenced four people in connection with that large-scale meth trafficking network bust called “Operation Say Uncle.”
City Councilman Jason Salamun announced today his bid to be Rapid City’s next mayor. Since the announcement Mayor Steve Allender will not seek reelection, Ron Weifenback and Laura Armstrong have each announced their campaigns. Salamun says He plans to focus his campaign on public safety and crime prevention. “We need more accountability, We need to do a better job at recruiting and retaining great police officers in our community cause of all the plans. We have to make this as great a place as possible, doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t safe.” In addition to safety, Salamun says He wants to take a quote “commonsense approach” to any issues He will face, as well as to work with the Native American community. [Jason Salamun announces mayoral campaign]
Before he retired Corrections Department Secretary Denny Kaemingk lamented that South Dakota's jails and prisons are full, the numbers continue to rise, the population "hit a new benchmark" and are especially evident in the women’s prison. Sixty percent of women there are for drug offenses and there are about 3,600 meth arrests every year in the chemical toilet that is South Dakota.
Fact is: the South Dakota Republican Party thrives on violence and Rapid City's law enforcement industry is run by a bunch of racists.
Rapid City needs places for young people to safely congregate without being harassed by the fuzz. I would love to open a roller skating rink like the one we had when I was a kid. People cannot afford a movie every weekend. Young people get chased out of parking lots where they hang out. Being young in SD is a crime. If you treat people like criminals, they act like criminals. Middle and high schools have become unwelcoming to minority and female students, essentially loading them into the school to jail pipeline. Concealed carry for all is a nightmare for officers. We need to start investing in our youth and, magically, most of the drug crime and violence will be abandoned.
ReplyDeleteCommunity is getting more difficult every day especially for people feeling marginalized and disenfranchised. Rapid is just one small city trying to please taxpayers at student expense and Steve Allender has thrown up his hands and is walking away. Honestly? Are there any towns doing it right?
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