Navajo Nation Police facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Navajo Nation Police |
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1872 |
| Employees | 549 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | USA |
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| Map of Navajo Nation Police's jurisdiction | |
| Size | 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Window Rock, Arizona |
| Police Officers | 210 |
| Civilians | 279 |
The Navajo Nation Police (formerly known as the Navajo Tribal Police) helps keep the peace on the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States. This police force is part of the Navajo Division of Public Safety. It is led by a Chief of Police, along with six Police Captains and eight Police Lieutenants.
The department has many different teams. These include Patrol, K-9 Units (police dogs), and a Tactical Operations Team. They also have units for traffic, managing money, and training new officers. The Navajo Nation Police looks after seven main districts. These are Chinle, Crownpoint, Dilkon, Kayenta, Shiprock, Tuba City, and Window Rock. Each district also has smaller police offices called substations.
Currently, there are 210 sworn police officers. About 134 of these officers work in patrol. There are also 28 criminal investigators. Plus, 279 civilians work as support staff for the department. One officer is responsible for patrolling about 70 square miles (180 km2) of land. The police department gets its money from the U.S. federal government and from the Navajo Nation itself. This is one of only two large Native American police departments in the United States with over 100 officers.
Contents
How the Police Force Started
The Navajo Treaty of 1868 was an important agreement. It said that the U.S. federal government was in charge of law enforcement for the Navajo people. The first Navajo police force was created in 1872. However, it only lasted for three years.
Even though there were police on the reservation, the United States government paid for them. The Navajo Nation was guided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for many years. This lasted from the late 1800s until 1959. In 1959, the Navajo Nation started its very own tribal police force.
Becoming Independent
Since 1959, the Navajo Nation Police has run on its own. Even today, the federal government still provides most of the money. The Navajo Nation Police is responsible for keeping the peace. They also take care of people who are arrested.
Police Equipment and Vehicles
Navajo Nation police officers use special equipment to do their jobs. Each officer gets a service Glock 22 40 caliber pistol. They also carry an expandable baton, handcuffs, and pepper spray. For their safety, they wear a bullet-resistant vest. Officers also have a portable radio to talk to a central dispatch center.
Vehicles for Patrol and Special Events
Officers in rural areas get to take their patrol vehicles home. These vehicles also have a shotgun, metal spike strips, and speed radar guns. The police department has 200 vehicles in total. These include SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Blazer, Chevrolet Suburban, and Jeep Liberty. They also use sedans like the Chevrolet Impala.
For special motor units, they have Kawasaki Kz1000 motorcycles. They use 4-wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) for big events or crowd control. There are also police officers who patrol on bicycles. All patrol vehicles now have laptop computers. These computers use Wi-Fi to help officers write and file reports easily. The department also has a special mobile command post vehicle. This vehicle is used in the Shiprock district.
Training New Officers
In 2018, the Chief of Police, Phillip Francisco, restarted the Navajo Nation police academy. They used the old Chinle jail as a training center. In June 2018, twelve new recruits finished their training. This was the first group to graduate from their own academy in ten years.
Police Ranks
Police forces use ranks to show an officer's position and responsibility. Here are the ranks in the Navajo Nation Police:
| Rank | Chief of Police | Deputy Chief | Captain | Lieutenant | Sergeant | Police officer |
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| Insignia |  |
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No insignia |
Officers Who Died in Service
Since the Navajo Nation Police department was created, at least fourteen officers have died while on duty.
Officers from the Navajo Nation Police are often featured in popular stories.
Mystery Novels
They are the main characters in a series of mystery novels by Tony Hillerman. These books are about fictional officers named Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernadette Manuelito. After Tony Hillerman passed away in 2008, his daughter Anne Hillerman continued the mystery series.
Television Shows
The Hillerman novels and characters were also used in a 2002 PBS television series. It was called Skinwalkers: The Navajo Mysteries.
Navajo police officers are also the subjects of the Ella Clah police procedural romance novels. These books are written by the husband-and-wife team of Aimee and David Thurlo.
See also
In Spanish: Policía de la nación navajo para niños
