Los Angeles Police Department Commander Jose Perez has been promoted to deputy chief and will take charge of the agency's Central Bureau, which oversees five patrol areas covering Downtown and areas surrounding the city's center.
Perez currently holds the rank of commander and oversees employee relations, and prior to that assignment served as captain of LAPD's Northeast Area, which includes portions of the Echo Park and Silverlake districts northwest of Downtown. Northeast Area is part of the agency's Central Bureau, along with the Central Area, which serves Downtown; Rampart Area, which covers the Pico-Union and Westlake district to the west; Hollenbeck Area, which takes in the Boyle Heights District and other parts of the Eastside; and Newton Area, which covers the southern edge of Downtown and a larger part of South Los Angeles.
Perez is of Puerto Rican heritage, and fluent in Spanish. The veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps is an LAPD transplant, having started his career with seven years of service on a suburban police department near his native Chicago. He joined LAPD in 1983 as a patrol officer, working in various assignments, including a stint in the Rampart Area. Perez later transferred to Hollenbeck Area after earning the rank of sergeant, and worked a variety of assignments there, even filling in as Santa Claus at community events from time to time.
Perez returned to Rampart as a lieutenant, and later served as adjutant to then-Deputy Chief Michel Moore — who has since risen to the rank of assistant chief — in the agency's West Bureau. Perez went on to serve as captain of patrol in both the Rampart and Northeast areas. He later became commanding officer of Northeast Area, and won promotion to commander in 2008.
Perez is expected to begin his new duties as chief of Central Bureaus upon the retirement of Sergio Diaz next month.
Diaz is scheduled to retire after more than 30 years of service to LAPD, where he served in a variety of capacities from patrol officer and through the ranks to his current post. Diaz is an immigrant from Cuba who arrived in the U.S. as a small child, escaping travails that brought hardship to his family in the island nation. He spent more than 30 years with LAPD, rising from street cop to his current duties, which he took up in the wake of a May Day demonstration in MacArthur Park that ended in a skirmish between LAPD officers and a crowd in 2007. Diaz played a crucial role in repairing relationships with communities left shaken by the incident. He's also overseen steady drops in crime rates throughout LAPD's Central Bureau, which covers Downtown and surrounding districts. He is expected to consider executive opportunities with private security companies or other public law enforcement agencies after he departs LAPD.
Official photos from LAPD.
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