City of Sturgis holds conference updating the public

STURGIS, S.D. — Not surprisingly, law enforcement is reporting a rise in the number of calls they responded to on the first day.

At the city’s first news conference of the Rally, the Sturgis Police Department says they responded to more than twice as many calls for service as last year.

The Meade County Sheriff’s Office reported a 30 percent rise.

Open container violations have been a major contention between officers and the public despite the open container ordinance.

Police say that Rally-goers need to know the rules.

“That’s what we’re trying to get the word out that, yes you can have an open container, but you cannot have it in a can, in a red solo cup,” said Sturgis Chief of Police Geody VanDewater. “It has to be in the official rally event cup and that’s what we wanna try to get the word out to try to help minimize the issues.”

Also at the news conference were two members of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Society.

The society will take part in the MMIW Medicine Wheel Ride, which the public is invited to join. About 130 participants have already signed up for the Medicine Wheel Ride.

The ride features Native American women who ride their motorcycles to Crazy Horse. They’ll be escorted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Organizers say the ride is a great opportunity for the community to come together and support their effort to raise awareness of issues facing Native American women and families.

“It’s great to bring people together, building community and bringing community together is an essential piece of, you know, just safety and being together,” said Shelly Denny of the Medicine Wheel Ride. “It’s fun to ride together and lift each other up even when we’re dealing with really heavy topics, which almost all of us are, so when you’re not alone in that anymore, it does make it a little bit easier.”