“When we announced we were hiring officers, we had a hundred candidates show up to the assessment,” John said. “We had a really strict process to hire them.”

John said all officers had to endure a rigorous interview, a physical fitness test with timed running metrics, an agility test and a written test.

It was not long before Governor Anoatubby approved a request to increase the officer count and add a K-9 officer. Today, Lighthorse also has a dive team and a SWAT team.

“Governor Anoatubby supported what we needed to build a larger police force,” John said. “I can’t say enough about the support we received from the Governor every step of the way. I am honored to have been the person to negotiate the assumption of law enforcement and to be the first administrator overseeing the Lighthorse.

“But it took the help from the legal division, officer Jason O’Neil, the late officer Vincent Walters and my staff to successfully assume the functions,” she said.

“On Oct. 1, 2004, the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police was reestablished under the Chickasaw Nation’s division of self-governance,” wrote Michelle Cooke, senior staff writer for Chickasaw Press, in her book “Protecting Our People – Chickasaw Law Enforcement in Indian Country.”

In 2004, they were housed in trailers situated on the current grounds of the Chickasaw Nation Headquarters at Mississippi and Arlington streets in Ada.

From these humble beginnings, today’s Chickasaw Lighthorse has matured into a force of more than 100 sworn officers with 24 support personnel.

One feature has remained the same. The Chickasaw Nation covers all or parts of 13 counties (Bryan, Carter, Coal, Garvin, Grady, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall, McClain, Murray, Pontotoc and Stephens) for a coverage area of 7,648 square miles.

This area is divided among three precincts. The Newcastle Precinct serves Grady, McClain and Stephens counties. WinStar’s Precinct serves Bryan, Carter, Jefferson, Love and Marshall counties. The Ada Precinct is responsible for Coal, Garvin, Johnston, Murray and Pontotoc counties.

Cross-deputation agreements with other law enforcement agencies have always been important to the contemporary Chickasaw Lighthorse, but recently took on a new relevance with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2020 stated the U.S. Congress never disestablished the Muscogee Nation reservation, and an ensuing Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling in 2021 applied that ruling to the Chickasaw Nation reservation. This meant that most crimes committed by tribal citizens on tribal land were under the purview of tribal law enforcement.

In a true spirit of cooperation, cross- deputation agreements with a total of 79 municipal, state, tribal and federal agencies allow that responsibility to be legally shared.

In 2012, Governor Anoatubby appointed Randy Wesley Chickasaw Lighthorse Chief of Police and in 2017, he was promoted to Commissioner of Tribal Law Enforcement for the Chickasaw Nation.

Commissioner Wesley says the McGirt decision meant more officers were required to fill the department’s mission of covering its large area and servicing the thousands of calls Lighthorse police receive yearly.

“Manpower coverage has increased,” Commissioner Wesley said. “In November of 2012, we had 31 officers. Now we have 105. The McGirt decision had a huge impact. We had about 65 officers when the McGirt decision was handed down. We have 7,648 square miles to patrol and averaging approximately 30,000 calls a year for service.”

Tammy Hughes, Lighthorse crime analyst, was there at the beginning and still finds it difficult to believe the strides the department has made in the last two decades.

“In 2004, Chief O’Neal would tell us some day we would have over a hundred employees. It was hard to envision since we only had 11,” Hughes said.

“Now, 20 years later, the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police has grown to over a hundred employees and become, I believe, one of the most respected law enforcement agencies. It has been truly a gift and an honor to serve the Chickasaw Nation people,” she said.