Navajo Nation Police Department in need of more officers

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- The Navajo Nation is in need of police officers.

Staffing challenges are nothing new. The Navajo Nation is a unique area for officers to serve.

"Everything is so far apart, so you have a lot of officers in one area, but they have a two to three-hour drive to go to an emergency that takes them out of a different area from a large population to a smaller population– then you have less officers in that densely populated area to police," Chief Phillip Francisco explained.

An assessment of the Navajo Police Department recommended that it double its staff.

"We need at least 500 police officers to be effective and take those emergency calls that come in," Francisco said.

The department is taking steps to fill the positions, but they also need more funding.

They currently have around 240 positions that they can fill with the current budget. Once those are filled, they can ask for more money.

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