Three South Dakota law enforcement associations are joining the call for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to step down
SIOUX FALLS, SD – Three South Dakota law enforcement groups joined on Friday calling for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to resign, saying his involvement in a September accident that left a man dead resulted in lack of confidence.
This week, Republican Governor Kristi Noem asked Ravnsborg to step down and State Public Security Secretary Craig Price has spoken out in favor of an effort to indict Ravnsborg, the state’s top police officer.
On Friday, the South Dakota Police Fraternal Order, the South Dakota Police Chiefs ‘Association and the South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association issued a joint statement saying that Ravnsborg’s involvement in the death of Joseph Boever ” resulted in a lack of confidence in his ability to effectively fulfill his role as chief of law enforcement in South Dakota. ”
The statement echoed Price’s comment on Thursday that in law enforcement “maintaining public trust is key”
A spokesman for Ravnsborg, 44, said he had no intention of resigning. Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors in the accident that killed the 55-year-old.
Ravnsborg, a Republican, initially told authorities that he thought he hit a deer or other large animal while returning to Pierre from a Republican fundraiser on the night of September 12. He said he scanned the unlit area with a cell phone flashlight and not only realized that he killed a man the next day when he returned to the crash site on US 14, near Highmore.
After an investigation that spanned five months, prosecutors accused him of driving carelessly, leaving his lane and operating a motor vehicle while on the phone.
The South Dakota Department of Public Security released videos in which investigators said that Boever’s glasses were found inside Ravnsborg’s car and that, “His face was on his windshield, Jason.”
The South Dakota Fraternal Police Order is a union that represents all levels of law enforcement and local, district and state agencies. The sheriffs ‘association includes all 66 county sheriffs’ offices and is a network for sheriffs across the state. The chiefs of police association consists of the majority of chiefs of police and their command boards across the state.