PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — Governor Kristi Noem says she wants to have an honest conversation about potential police reforms in South Dakota in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.
“The question before us now, today, in South Dakota, is what do we want policing to look like…”
The Governor says she is willing to have discussions about possible changes in the law, and those discussions should be going on at the city and county level, as well.
Noem is making at least a couple of suggestions, including looking at how police unions can sometimes complicate getting rid of bad or questionable cops.
“I saw a statistic yesterday that 25 percent of police officers that had been fired for certain reasons had appealed and gotten their jobs back,” Noem says she’d also be willing to consider making police body camera video more available to the public in South Dakota.
Peaceful protests, honest conversations, and hearing all sides are part of the right way to move forward, but Noem says violence, like what happened in Sioux Falls on Sunday, simply won’t be tolerated.
Noem says that at the end of the day, South Dakota needs to be certain that what happened in Minneapolis won’t happen here.
“Personally, I haven’t even been able to make it through the video yet. It has been gut-wrenching to watch.”
