The status of Whiteclay's beer stores has been a constant political issue in the region, prompting waves of activism to end the alcohol sales. There is public drunkenness in Whiteclay, and violence is associated with alcohol there and on the reservation. "Tribal police estimate that they issue more than 1,000 DUIs annually on the 2-mile stretch of road between White Clay and Pine Ridge." Victor Clarke, a grocery store owner in the hamlet, notes that numerous places within an hour's drive could supply beer if Whiteclay were shut down. He says, "The state of Nebraska doesn't want Whiteclay to go away because it allows problems to be isolated in this one little place. You hear people in the towns around here saying, 'We don't want these guys in our town.'"