Johnson Announces Safer South Dakota

@SoDakCampaigns

Johnson Announces Safer South Dakota

Mitchell, S.D. – Today, gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Dusty Johnson announced Safer South Dakota, an initiative which aims to hold drug dealers accountable and reduce South Dakota’s drug overdose deaths through targeted prevention and accountability.
“As I speak with law enforcement and victims, it’s clear South Dakota can do better,” said Johnson. “My plan ensures we have increased accountability and the improved tools needed to tackle the drug epidemic and go after drug dealers.”
Safer South Dakota will focus on the following areas:
Support for Safer South Dakota:
“Dusty’s proposals will make South Dakota safer. He’s always listened to law enforcement, and his plan will help us protect our communities together,” said Steve Cotton, Charles Mix County State’s Attorney.
“This state needs bold leadership to tackle our toughest challenges. Dusty Johnson is the right person for the job. I look forward to working with him and other members of this task force to keep our communities safe and hold offenders accountable,” said Kevin Thom, former Pennington County Sheriff and former Director of the S.D. Division of Criminal Investigation.
“We owe it to our communities to be both tough and smart on crime. This plan establishes a statewide task force that strengthens offender accountability through more effective supervision, enhances our ability to combat drug distribution, and invests in meaningful prevention efforts. This is an important first step towards building safer neighborhoods—not just for today, but for the long term,” said Daniel Haggar, Minnehaha County State’s Attorney.
To learn more about Safer South Dakota, please click here.
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20 thoughts on “Johnson Announces Safer South Dakota”

  1. Why are all these “great ideas” surfacing now? It’s not only Johnson. If there was true concern for this State’s citizens, why wait for the election season. I’m not critical of the ideas, but Johnson has been in the arena for years. Why not suggest the actions sooner. Years sooner.

    1. Because these are state level initiatives and he is a congressman? Use your brain.

  2. South Dakota has been tracking OD data in real time for several years. Schools already report overdoses even if not “explicit” I would be curious if he has a single example of a school not doing it. Presumption of DUI died in committee this year and now he wants “presumption of distribution” – this isn’t a bad idea but the tougher penalties on larger quantities of drugs already covers this. The state already has a rehabilitation task force. This is another dud plan where he is announcing he is going to keep doing what the state is already doing and pretending it is a new idea.

    1. Ian,

      Why are there stars next to Venhuizen in the graphic? Is that the subtle way of telling us he’s actually doing things and Rhoden is just hanging out like Biden was?

    3. How’s his up-hand? I did manufacturing welding for a few years, and I could never get a pretty looking uphand weld.

    4. Is that why every municipality and county is upset with the administration about its mishandling of recidivism issues?

  4. Yet nowhere is addiction help mentioned. There won’t be nearly as much supply if demand is drastically reduced. Weird how this “tough on drug crime” stance hasn’t worked – because there will always be another person willing to take the risk to make a bunch of money selling drugs.

    1. maybe the public is tired of helping drug addicts?

      For years we’ve been told we’re supposed to feel sorry for junkies.

      Nope.

      1. Costs less to treat someone in addiction treatment, get them working and paying taxes than incarceration rates. Dusty was part of the team in de Daugaard that slashed community support funding when they did Justice reform. Stopped incarcerating but didn’t fund actual supports. So this is no solution

      2. This is about being practical, not “feeling sorry” for anyone. Incarcerating them costs money. Ignoring them ensures their criminal behavior escalates. You cant hust sweep this problem under the rug or it will come back to bite you.

        1. letting them die in their own vomit is even less costly than incarcerating them

          just sayin’

  6. Sheriff Thom said today that under Rhoden, offenders are getting too many bites of the apple. They aren’t being held accountable. Thank you Dusty for calling this problem out.

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