The Navajo Police Department want to boost its tribal police force by 500 officers, but to do that, leaders say it needs to get the word out to reach more new recruits.
For the first time, the department will hold recruitment drives in cities like Bloomfield and Farmington in order to reach more potential officers.
"What is one of the best ways that we can engage our population in order to consider becoming members of our organization, and from there, the brainstorming, the sessions, we said, ‘let’s go ahead and extend our recruitment towards these border town regions,'" said Lenard Redhorse, Navajo Police Department commander, in a story by KOB4.
The NPD is responsible for protecting the Navajo nation in New Mexico, the largest Native American territory in the U.S.The department has 4,200 square miles of Navajo Nation terrain, meaning a lot of new manpower is necessary.
“The only way we can provide quality services to our tribal members is if we increase the number of our patrol officers,” Redhorse said.
The department is looking for recruits who are part of the Navajo nation and live on the lands, but the recruitment is not restricted to members of the nation.
“Just because we are the Navajo Police organization, that we are only employing Dinѐ citizens, and that’s not the case, we are open to all individuals who want to provide service, who have a desire to go ahead and exercise independent judgment we want to seek those individuals who ... can make a difference within the larger community,” Redhorse said.
In addition to opening up the search to candidates beyond Navajo territory, the department also is considering lowering the age requirement to be a police officer.
“To provide a career opportunity for those wanting to make a career change or barely starting out, the police department is thinking of lowering the age limit to 18 so hopefully we can do that and get others interested,” said Grant Skeet, background investigator for the Navajo Police headquarters.