Assistant Chief Chris Pérez has lived a life of service. He began his career with the Chandler Police Department in 1997, after serving in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman.
Driven by his passion for servant leadership and helping crime victims, Assistant Chief Pérez has always strived to mentor and coach younger police officers committed to excelling and growing within the department.
After working in numerous Patrol positions throughout the Department, in 2000, Assistant Chief Pérez became an investigator with the Neighborhood Response Team. After that, in 2004 he served as a School Resource Officer instructing students in the Chandler Unified School District. In this role, Assistant Chief Pérez created the Chandler Police Department’s Wilderness Experience. The youth program is an outdoor, experiential and educational opportunity for middle school students, and is popular with students all over Chandler even today.
In 2004, Assistant Chief Pérez worked as a Special Victims Detective in the Criminal Investigations Bureau. In this role he investigated violent crime and crimes against children. During this time, Assistant Chief Pérez supervised some of the city’s most high-profile cases and sought justice for victims.
In 2012, Assistant Chief Pérez was promoted to Sergeant and returned to patrol for the next two years, until he was selected to serve as in the Special Victims Unit as Detective Sergeant. This gave Assistant Chief Pérez the opportunity to oversee the direction of investigation, enhance best practices, and serve as a co-coordinator with the State of Arizona’s Child Abduction Response Team.
Assistant Chief Pérez also served on an advisory committee in Washington, D.C., where he was part of a team that helped develop national protocol for sex abuse medical forensic examinations, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Human Health Services.
In 2014, Assistant Chief Pérez also assumed leadership of the Chandler Police Department’s Honor Guard as an ancillary duty.
In 2015 he was promoted to Lieutenant, serving as a Watch Commander overseeing Patrol.
In 2016, Assistant Chief Pérez was selected to lead the Department’s Special Investigation’s section overseeing all Gang, Criminal Intelligence, Narcotics, and Human Trafficking investigations.
In 2020, Chief Pérez was promoted to Commander, overseeing daily operations of the following units: SWAT, Criminal Apprehension Unit, K-9 Unit, Motor Unit, DUI Unit, Vehicular Crimes Unit, Bike Team Unit, Training Unit, SRO Unit, Park Ranger Unit, Volunteers in Policing Unit, Detention Services Unit, and the Police Cadet Unit.
In 2022 he moved over to the Chandler Heights Precinct where he was responsible for all patrol operations in South Chandler.
In 2024, he transferred back to the Criminal Investigations Bureau where he supervised the Criminal Investigations Bureau, Special Investigations Section, Persons Crimes, Family crimes, Robbery & Homicide, Sex crimes, Victims Services, Detention, SWAT, K-9 and Medial Relations Units.
Assistant Chief Pérez earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Arizona State University in 1997 and a master’s degree in education from Northern Arizona University.
In his spare time, Assistant Chief Pérez is an outdoor enthusiast, an Adjunct College Professor of Justice Studies and public speaker, presenting case studies and lecturing throughout the United States.
He is currently serving on the Arizona Department of Public Safety Private Investigator and Security Board and the Muslim Police Advisory Board
As a police leader, Assistant Chief Pérez thrives on watching younger officers excel and grow through his mentorship and coaching. He considers them the future of policing and is committed to ensuring they have the tools to succeed and make a meaningful impact on others.
He was promoted to his new role as Assistant Chief in November 2024.