Navajo Officer’s Shooting Reflects Danger To Tribal Police

The fatal shooting of a Navajo Nation officer has renewed focus on the dangers that Indian Country's remote landscapes can pose for police.

The FBI has released few details stemming from its investigation into the shooting that killed Officer Houston Largo on Sunday, except to say he was gunned down while en route to a domestic violence call.
Navajo Police Chief Phillip Francisco, who declined to discuss the specifics of the case, says tribal officers patrol the empty, rural roads of the nation's largest American Indian reservation alone, sometimes with the nearest fellow officer at least an hour away.

The realities that the chronically understaffed police department faces reflect the challenges that experts say officers often face on reservations nationwide.
The Navajo police force is working to bolster its ranks.