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Navajo County and Navajo Nation Policing

Doug Watt
@DougWatt
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As a police officer in Oregon, I could make an arrest anywhere in the State of Oregon, with the exceptions of tribal lands, Federal buildings and Federal parks.

There was a reciprocal chase policy with the State of Washington and California. If the chase of a frequent flyer began in Oregon, I could pursue the subject into Washington. I would let Washington law enforcement lead the chase once I crossed the border. I made one such arrest after a chase ended in Washington. There was no extradition hearing required and I took my frequent flyer back to Oregon and booking in the Multnomah County Jail.

As the Washington State Trooper who tackled my subject said, it isn't the Dukes of Hazard kid. I'm out of the arena now, fence jumping contests are for younger men and women.

For those of you that have watched Dark Winds on AMC or have read the Navajo Tribal Police novels written by Tony and Anne Hillerman, or interested in the tribal sovereign nations in the US you might find the following video interesting.

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Discussion (6)

  • The Scarecrow@TheScarecrow

    How interesting. Here in America there is still a place where having a certain documentable status - clan member, tribe member - grants you certain rights and legal status that non documented humans do not have. And nobody is being called names and vilified for requiring outsiders to respect their status, and the importance to the integrity of the territory.

    Since it is their law, wouldn’t violators be called, I don’t know, “illegal” or something? I wonder why the open borders types aren’t down there protesting, demanding these Navajo racists abandon their control of their territory and let anybody in who wants to come?

  • Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)@ArizonaPatriot

    This is cool, Doug. I know the area pretty well.

    The sheriff is from Snowflake, and the Navajo lady with him says that she's from Taylor (not the Reservation). Snowflake-Taylor is pretty much one place, as they are adjacent towns.

    The sheriff said that he's descended from one of the founders of Snowflake. The main two founders, I kid you not, were two guys named . . . guesses, anyone?

    Snow. And Flake.

    Get it?

    This is the story. The town was settled by Mormon pioneers, and is still strongly Mormon.

  • Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)@ArizonaPatriot

    A few more explanations, for the non-Arizonans.

    There's a county in Arizona called Navajo County. There's also a Navajo Indian reservation, aka the Navajo Nation, which is mostly in Arizona, but also extends into New Mexico and Utah.

    The sheriff on the video is the elected sheriff of Navajo County.

    Part of the Navajo reservation is in Navajo County. There's also a Hopi reservation and an Apache reservation in Navajo County. There are multiple Apache reservations, and the particular one referenced is the White Mountain Apache res.

    If that's not confusing enough -- there's also an Apache County in Arizona. It's the county immediately west of Navajo County. Part of the Navajo res is in Apache County, and part of the White Mountain Apache res is also in Apache County.

    The Navajo Nation isn't really a sovereign nation. It's quasi-sovereign. It's US territory, and the Navajo are US citizens. Those Navajo who live in Navajo County vote in county elections, whether or not they live on the res. So the sheriff in the video has constituents who are Navajo.

    The Navajo Nation government has significant local jurisdiction. As the sheriff explains on the video, major crimes on the res are governed by federal law and are under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

    I like the Hillerman reference, Doug. Great books, though I only read those written by Tony.

    One more fun fact: The Navajo County courthouse, in the county seat of Holbrook just south of the Navajo res, is on Code Talkers Drive. For those of you who haven't heard of the WWII Navajo code talkers, you should look it up.

  • Full Size Tabby@FullSizeTabby

    I have been impressed with Mr. Santenello's videos. He seems to show high respect for the subjects of his interviews, and lets them tell their stories. He's got another sheriff ride-along from the southern Texas border that was the first one of his videos I had seen.

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