MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A sheriff in Wisconsin won’t replace the deputies he’s sent to North Dakota to help keep the peace at the Dakota Access pipeline protest site.
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney had planned to rotate three teams of deputies over three weeks. They include ten deputies and three supervisors from the department’s special events team.
The State Journal says Mahoney will end his department’s participation after a week and that his deputies will return Sunday. Mahoney says community feedback and reduced reimbursement costs played a role in his decision.
The Dane County deputies are among 43 Wisconsin officers responding to a call for help from the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
Construction of the Dakota Access pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois has drawn several thousand protesters to an encampment near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.