Ten men and women have graduated from the Navajo Nation’s police academy.
The new officers make up the 57th Navajo Nation Police Training Academy Class and attended a ceremony at Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, N.M., last Saturday.
The 28-week training course focuses on academics, crime scene management, de-escalation techniques and several other areas of policing.
President Jonathan Nez praised the graduates and said the tribe has raised police salaries in order to retain officers and has also begun incorporating traditional Navajo beliefs into how it addresses public safety, violence, substance abuse, suicide and missing and murdered Indigenous people.
The Navajo Nation has long suffered from a shortage of police officers and high turnover in its ranks.