The Navajo Nation now has a new chief of police. Daryl Noon was sworn in Monday.
He replaces Phillip Francisco who resigned at the end of 2021 to lead the police department in Bloomfield, N.M.
“Together, Mr. Noon and former Police Chief Francisco began building a legacy for the Navajo Police Department that led to an increase in the number of police officers in our communities, salary increases to help recruit and retain more officers, and the ongoing re-evaluation of our criminal code to strengthen our laws and to identify more opportunities for the healing of our people and our communities,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in a press release.
Noon is from Fort Defiance, Ariz., and served as the tribe’s deputy chief of police since 2019. He also worked for the Farmington Police Department in New Mexico for more than two decades and served as its deputy chief before joining Navajo police.
In recent years several reforms were put in place including salary increases and other attempts to retain for officers and grow the ranks of the chronically understaffed tribal police force.