From the Chadron Record:

In a July 15 interview at The Chadron Record office, Bruning said he doesn’t think local police, sheriff’s staff or prosecutors treat Native Americans differently than others, as Means has charged.

Asked about statistics that indicate proportionately more law enforcement stops of Native Americans than their make up in the area population, Bruning said the numbers are not necessarily related to racism. “It’s always difficult to get a handle on whether a particular racial group is stopped more because of racism, or whether they are stopped more because they are disproportionately committing crimes,” he said. “Is it the police who are stopping more Native Americans, or is it the Native Americans who are giving the police more reasons to stop them? I don’t know the answer to that.”

Bruning added that he believes the Nebraska State Patrol is mostly free of racial bias. “I don’t believe there is racism in the State Patrol, with the exception of one officer who I’m trying to run out on a rail,” he said, referring to an ongoing effort to terminate a State Patrol officer who joined an organization with ties to the Klu Klux Klan. “I have great faith in our State Patrol…I don’t think there is racism going on in Nebraska law enforcement.”

Even in the case of the trooper who joined a racist group “we don’t have any proof that he did (racial profiling in arrests),” said Bruning.

An effort to improve law enforcement in White Clay in response to protests against the sale of beer to people from the adjacent Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,where alcohol is banned, hasn’t yielded much improvement, according to Bruning. “It has been frustrating. At one point we had a significant amount of money appropriated but the tribe didn’t want to cross deputize (their law enforcement officers),” he said. “I think part of it depends on stable leadership in the tribe.”

Read the Rest…