Story highlights A small force and a gigantic jurisdiction make policing the Navajo Nation reservation challenging and dangerous.

In under two years, three Navajo police officers have died in the line of duty.

US Department of Justice: Crime rate on Native American reservations is more than 2.5 times the national rate

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Window Rock, Arizona (CNN) Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation in the country in both size and population, is as extraordinary for its sweeping, magnificent views as it is for its rugged remoteness.

Fewer than 200,000 people live in the sovereign nation that spans parts of three states: Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

But beneath that bucolic veneer of serenity lives an impoverished people often racked by violence. Navajo Nation has a violent crime rate higher than most major US cities -- and a police force in mourning after a third Navajo Nation police officer in less than two years lost his life on the job.

That officer, Houston Largo, was shot March 12, while responding to a domestic violence call.

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