‘Operation Rainbow Bridge’, Navajo Police seek Diné caught up in sober-living scams in the Valley
Navajo Times | Kianna Joe
Tuba City Police District Officer Rowland Dash points out a potential group of unsheltered people with Native Americans to Harlan Cleveland (middle), the special operations coordinator for the Navajo Police Department, and Derek Benally of the Chinle Police District.
PHOENIX
Three Navajo Nation Police Department officials take to the hot pavements of the Phoenix Valley to begin the groundwork for a new operation to bring Navajo people home.
On Tuesday, May 16, Navajo Police officers arrived in Phoenix to start planning their search and operation.
Three days later, the head coordinator of the search, Harlan Cleveland, reported at a press conference introducing “Operation Rainbow Bridge” in response to the more than 100 unlicensed and fraudulent sober-living homes in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Cleveland’s two officers contacted 23 Natives.
Those 23 people the officers contacted were unsheltered Native Americans wandering the streets.
Cleveland said they are collaborating with the tribe’s Division of Transportation in locating Natives. Navajo DOT has an operation in the Valley that allowed them to have a head start in tracking large groups of unsheltered Native Americans.
“Of the 23 that we made contact with, they’re (his two officers) providing them services and assisting them, so we have boots on the ground, and we will be here through the weekend and next week,” Cleveland said.
Read the full story in the May 25 edition of the Navajo Times.
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