KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

WHAT IS KNOW YOUR RIGHTS?

This training was developed by NDN Collective’s Legal and Compliance team in 2023 in response to the increased targeting, killing, and mass incarceration of Native Peoples’ at the hands of Rapid City Police and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Department, in addition to the unjust prosecutions by the South Dakota State’s Attorney. We know our community has a legitimate fear for their safety when dealing with police. Thus far, the training has reached over 300 participants in the Mni Luzahan community. We plan to offer more opportunities to build skills and strategize how to keep our communities safe in Rapid City throughout 2025. Please stay connected!

PURPOSE

To Empower the Community! As Indigenous People, we have rights! Not only constitutional rights but also treaty rights. In the words of our comrade Jason Sole, “If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any.”
To Fight Back Against Systemic Oppression. The most recent Office of Civil Rights, RCAS Compliance Report Findings, dated May 29, 2024, outlined, “ Similarly situated Native American Students have been treated differently at the referral and sanctioning stages of the District’s discipline process.” Resulting in Native students receiving 5.51 times more police referrals than white students and 5.84 more arrests than white students. The system’s racialized oppression of Indigenous peoples begins at schools with our children.
To Prevent Community Members From Getting Criminal Convictions. Knowing your rights may not always prevent an arrest, but it can help you know what to document, what to say or not say, how to avoid incrimination, and can help a defense attorney fight the charge in court.

RESOURCES

To submit a formal complaint, please fill out this document and share a copy with us at [email protected].

Disclaimer: NDN Collective is not responsible for the complaint and cannot provide legal advice. Our Know Your Rights team will use the complaint form to track data on complaints against RCPD. The complainant would still need to submit the form with RCPD.