{"id":16448,"date":"2017-01-19T00:54:13","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T00:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/?p=16448"},"modified":"2023-09-21T01:01:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T01:01:50","slug":"police-pay-raises-attracting-qualified-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/2017\/01\/19\/police-pay-raises-attracting-qualified-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Police pay raises attracting qualified candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY COLLEEN KEANE<\/strong>
\nSPECIAL TO THE TIMES<\/p>\n

ALBUQUERQUE<\/strong> – Putting their lives on the line, Navajo police handle calls of every kind \u2013 bootlegging, cattle rustling, armed robbery, gang activity, meth dealing, domestic abuse and murders.<\/p>\n

Their territory stretches up to hundreds of miles on rural New Mexico, Arizona and Utah highways and backroads.<\/p>\n

Their backup: minimal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge challenge.<\/p>\n

We are extremely short on police officers,\u201d said recently hired Police Chief Phillip Francisco.<\/p>\n

But, he added, \u201cWe\u2019re working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francisco started his position last August.<\/p>\n

He said changes are coming now that the pay rate for tribal police officers has increased to around $22 an hour, up from about $16.<\/p>\n

For degreed applicants, the pay could be as much as $28 an hour.<\/p>\n

While there have been unfilled positions for some time, Francisco said it wasn\u2019t solely about the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department wasn\u2019t attracting qualified candidates,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Candidates 21 and older have to pass a police academy, background checks and fitness tests to qualify for the job.<\/p>\n

Now that the salary is competitive with state and county departments, Francisco said that qualified recruits have already begun to show up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 13 potential new officers,\u201d he noted on Tuesday, adding that there are many more openings.<\/p>\n

According to the Navajo Nation Police Force Facebook page the next recruitment drive is Wednesday, Jan. 25. It will be held at the Window Rock Police District Training Room.<\/p>\n

While Navajo preference applies, the positions are open to all candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is long overdue,\u201d said Council Delegate Edmund Yazzie (Churchrock\/Iyanbito\/ Mariano Lake\/Pinedale\/Smith Lake\/Thoreau) in a phone call with the Times last week.<\/p>\n

Yazzie, the chair of the Law and Order Committee, said that the enhanced efforts to improve public safety are in part due to increased collaboration between the Law and Order Committee and the public safety division.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working closely with Jesse Delmar (Director of the Division of Public Safety) and Chief Francisco. With teamwork we will be up to par with other police departments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yazzie\u2019s response comes after the Law and Order Committee received a report from the Alamo Navajo District Court in Dec. about the limited number of police officers assigned there.<\/p>\n

Alamo, a Navajo Nation satellite community, is located about 85 miles southwest of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

Currently there\u2019s one officer; another is on family leave, advised Francisco.<\/p>\n

He said that will change soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new day and new age. We will keep up the ongoing effort to recruit and do more to address the needs,\u201d said Francisco.<\/p>\n

One area that\u2019s going to have a closer look: methamphetamine trafficking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a plan in place to address that,\u201d said Yazzie.<\/p>\n

Francisco said there\u2019s also a need for more funding because even with filling current open positions, the budgeted police force is half that of the average metropolitan police department.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be talking to the BIA about that,\u201d said Francisco.<\/p>\n

To help fill he gap, the department cross-deputizes officers from state and county police forces.<\/p>\n

Francisco also said that the department is working on improving databases and information sharing between districts. Right now, each police district works off its own system and is not linked with headquarters or other districts.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Nation Police are responsible for seven districts: Chinle, Arizona; Crownpoint, New Mexico; Dilkon, Arizona; Kayenta, Arizona; Shiprock, New Mexico; Tuba City, Arizona; and Window Rock, Arizona.<\/p>\n

Information: Find Navajo Nation Police Department on Facebook or call Police Officer Donald Seimy at 928- 283-3394\/3112 or Police Sgt. Marvin Curley at 928-871- 7811<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY COLLEEN KEANE SPECIAL TO THE TIMES ALBUQUERQUE – Putting their lives on the line, Navajo police handle calls of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16450,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16448\/revisions\/16450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}