Latest news with #RapidCityPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Night Patrol Units serve and protect in the dark
Rapid City, S.D. (KELO) — The Rapid City Police Department continues to evolve as it shifts focus to high-priority areas to prevent crime from continuing across town. And as the sun goes down, the job shifts its focus to those who patrol at night. Officers aim to serve and protect 24 hours a day, with multiple units working every corner of town. Vietnam veterans remember the war 50 years later 'Crime happens all times of the day obviously. Particularly, we find that criminals do like to act in the nighttime hours, so that's a lot of the difference. We're very reactive, the crimes are different, people are very much out when the weather gets warmer doing things, doing a lot of stuff at night,' RCPD Patrol Lieutenant Ryan Phillips said. The street crimes division is split up between two units, with the morning focusing on downtown and park areas and the second unit working nights. 'Violent crime, drug crime, anything involving a gun or weapon, that's our primary focus on Street Crimes B. So we get tasked with going anywhere in town that there's been a spike in violent crime recently. We'll go there and we have the ability to spend more time, more focused patrols in those areas,' RCPD Street Crimes Sergeant Michael Shyne said. 'I see people doing certain things and I can be like, I need to address this before it becomes a bigger issue. It might even just be going to a call for service for something random like an intoxicated call and you can hear people arguing upstairs and you're like what's going on up stairs. I should address that maybe I can stop something from happening,' RCPD K-9 Handler Ekaras Jackson said. While most parts of town quiet down, the downtown scene comes more alive as the sun sets. 'During the summer hours you'll see a lot more of our guys, a lot more of our officers with the weather being a little bit nicer, they're on foot more. We are a little bit more spread out and we try to be more mobile because as the weather is nicer people are more mobile, they're not as packed into the houses,' Phillips said. Patrolling the street downtown at night is all about making on the spot judgements as people are walking in and out of bars. 'Did they have a few beers and maybe just being a little loud as they walked down the street? Or is this person harassing somebody, is this person about to get into a fist fight. That discretion comes into play because maybe we might address those situations differently and maybe prevent an assault down the road, prevent a DUI or something like that. So I think discretion is one of our biggest tools,' Jackson said. One of the downsides of nighttime patrolling is the lack of visibility, which makes each officer's role more vital at tracking down what can't be seen. 'It takes a little more time at night. Going and canvassing a neighborhood is easy in the middle of the afternoon when you can see everything. Whereas at night, you're almost having to shrink down the area you're searching to begin with. And I think it's almost like, in the army we'd call it like hands across America, it's shoulder to shoulder and you walk,' Shyne said. At the end of the night, the goal is to protect those who are out, whether that's going to the store or enjoying a night out. 'The people that are making it not enjoyable to live in this community, I want to get those people off the streets and so that people don't have to worry about things being stolen from their car, their house being burglarized, not being able to walk downtown in fear of some sort of random act of violence, so that's my main goal.' Jackson Said The Rapid City Police Department's night team works to have eyes placed throughout the city to be able to react and respond to situations quicker. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Red Ribbon Skirt Society founder speaking in SF
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Lily Mendoza of Rapid City, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is set to speak Tuesday night at the public library in downtown Sioux Falls about an issue which does not always receive attention: the high rate of violence suffered by Native American women. Mendoza started the Red Ribbon Skirt Society, which seeks to accompany and advocate for people with missing or murdered loved ones. 'We do really work on their case, meaning that we'll be at court when it goes to trial,' Mendoza said Tuesday afternoon ahead of her talk. 'We're involved with the missing and murdered unit, which is a federal program. We have two of the women that are on the unit, work in the unit and they're part of our society,' Will South Dakota lose federal education funding? One case which will have her attention is that of Sahela Sangrait, a 21-year-old Native woman whose body was discovered in February in the Hill City area. 24-year-old Quinterius Chappelle is in the Pennington County Jail, charged with killing her on Ellsworth Air Force base in western South Dakota; he has pleaded not guilty. 'I'll be talking about what happened to her, and the thing is, when I'm talking about these cases, some of them are very gruesome, some of them are really hard to speak about,' Mendoza said. 'But what we're about is telling the truth.' Mendoza says work with the Rapid City Police Department is helping the Red Ribbon Skirt Society achieve its mission in fighting for missing and murdered Indigenous women and their loved ones. 'I hope that there are individuals that work in the criminal system that will be here tonight,' Mendoza said. 'I hope there are police officers here tonight, because we've got a pretty good system in Rapid City in how we do business as far as MMIW. We've got a team of people.' There's no ticket needed to attend Mendoza's talk Tuesday night; it starts at 6:30. 'We are nearing capacity, but don't let that stop you,' library associate Kara Vehar said. Attendees are asked to register online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Yahoo
Residential burglary suspect arrested after joint efforts
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — The Rapid City Police Department, the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and other agencies worked together to bring in a man who was on the run for a home burglary and assault Saturday morning. Ten Commandments in school bill fails Joshua Peacock was spotted in the area of East Saint Patrick Street, and due to the public safety threat he posed, all available resources converged on the area. 'With Peacock being a high priority individual to arrest and to detain, everybody came. And everybody from the Sheriff's Office, our current patrol officers that were on duty, the Highway Patrol, all responded to set up a perimeter in the area to contain Peacock and eventually arrest him,' RCPD Captain Christian Sigel said. The city and county law enforcement work closely together and have around 10 different specialized joint task forces. 'For two agencies that are in the same kind of area to work as closely together and when we travel for training or go to assist other areas in the state or across the nation it's constantly brought up to us about how rare it is,' PCSO Captain Taylor Sperle said. Since 1985 this high level partnership has been active with both also collaborating with the Highway Patrol. 'We are unique in that a lot of things that we do. We share the same building, we share the same resources, we're constantly saving the taxpayers dollars in working together, and there's no feuds. You know, ultimately, we're able to provide a better service for our community,' Sigel said. 'Here the Chief and the Sheriff work very closely together and they understand the importance and express that to us. You know, the importance of that cooperation and how it benefits not only our agencies but you know, all the members of our community,' Sperle said. All a focus to better serve their community. The reward for the information leading to the arrest of Joshua Peacock will also be paid out now that he's in custody. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Standoff arrest; $1k reward for burglar; Snow chances
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Here are this morning's top stories with KELOLAND On the Go. An Arkansas man was arrested Thursday after a standoff at a residence north of Witten in Tripp County. The attorney general's office says authorities served an arrest warrant and a search warrant at a home that was occupied by Rodney Carney, 54, who was wanted on charges in Arkansas. Arrest made after standoff in Tripp County The Rapid City Police Department has put out a $1,000 reward issued for information leading to the arrest of a home burglary suspect. 39-year-old Joshua Peacock has been identified as the suspect in the home burglary and assault this past Saturday. $1,000 reward in home burglary case The chances of picking up at least an inch of snow are good in those areas. Even Sioux Falls has a good shot as some 'nuisance' snowfall tonight and tomorrow morning. Snow chances ahead the next 24 hours; Bitter cold next week Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
