Plot Synopsis

Directed by Kahlil Hudson, Alex Jablonski, and David Nordstrom, NAVAJO POLICE: CLASS 57 is a three-part documentary that follows a group of recruits over the course of one year, as they fight their way through the Navajo Police Training Academy and out into the field, where they must contend with rising crime and centuries of neglect to hold their community together. For this cadre, known as Class 57, the pressure is fierce, and the stakes are high as the survival of their sovereign nation depends in part on the success of this academy. The series follows the officers and recruits through the rigorous training, the physical challenges, and the self-doubt, delving into their backstories to reveal an overview of life on the reservation and the motivations that drew them to the force. While the turbulent stories of Class 57 unfold in real time, the series provides an ever-widening portrait of the Navajo Nation at large. The Nation's deep sense of kinship grounds efforts to address a range of social issues police encounter on the job -- alcoholism, drugs, violence, and domestic abuse -- issues that many of the recruits have to deal with in their own extended families, leading to dramatic intersections of the personal and the professional, the past and the present. In this unique social and cultural context, the NPD stands as a microcosm of the Navajo Nation itself, revealing its history, uncertain future, and its resiliency. The three-parter includes interviews with law enforcement officers Lt. Donnie Kee, Sgt. Rob Williams, Sgt. Lucy Dan, and Sgt. Eldon Foster; recruits Shawvan Levi, Cheyenne Pettigrew, Antwan Gray, and Nora Allen; Council Delegate of the Navajo Nation, Eugenia Charles-Newton; and community activist Shandiin Yazzie. NAVAJO POLICE: CLASS 57 debuted on consecutive nights in October 2023 on HBO:

Episode 1 (Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 9pm): The only tribal law enforcement agency with its own police academy, the Navajo Police Department serves a population of 190,000 people with just 180 officers. Facing mounting pressure to increase their numbers, the NPD welcomes a new class of 28 recruits for their rigorous 28-week training program.

Episode 2 (Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 10pm): As recruits begin to drop out of the program, officers discuss the lack of employment opportunities and ongoing challenges facing young adults in the Navajo Nation. Later, the remaining recruits delve into a range of social issues they will encounter while on the job -- including domestic violence, drugs, and alcoholism.

Episode 3 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 9pm): As the training program nears its end, the recruits recount the reasons why they decided to join the police force. While they prepare to head out into the field, the rookie officers reflect on how their chosen career has impacted their lives and families and wrestle with conflicts between the personal and professional.