APD's Danny Perez retires leaving the community better served, better protected

After passing the Amarillo Police Department Academy’s 54th class 33 years and 8 months ago, Cpl. Danny Perez retired from protecting and serving this community.

Perez stopped pursuing his education at West Texas A&M University where he was a football player to enroll in the APD academy in November 1984.

The political science major and football scholar could not ignore a seed that was planted long before.

“I had a neighbor in Hereford growing up, he was a police officer,” he said. “He was a big influence on me.”

Perez said he was never undaunted about his career path.

“Probably in the first early years with some of the stuff I would see … put a question in my mind if that’s what I wanted to do, but the good stuff outweighed the bad stuff,” he said.

Throughout his tenure Perez served as patrol officer, field training officer, school liaison officer, a SWAT team member, Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events instructor and in the Juvenile Offender Unit.

In recent years, police officers have made news headlines, most notably for their alleged improper behavior. Perez said he was never affected by the headlines or the ire they drew in some communities toward police officers.

“The few that crossed the line made the job worse for us but I knew there was more good guys than there were the very few; there are hundreds and hundreds who do the right thing every day and those are the guys that kept me going.”

Friends, relatives and colleagues say Perez is confident, calm under stress, professional yet compassionate.

“I was brought up to treat people the way you want to be treated,” he said. “Even though you have a little bit of authority over them … you still have to be compassionate and look at it from their side. I would hope that if roles were reversed they would treat me with compassion and respect.”

It is that compassion that Detective Sgt. Oscar Garcia saw first-hand when Perez was his training officer.

"I can’t say enough good things about Danny because of the role he had in my career,” Garcia said. “He was a great communicator and fair with people regardless of who he was speaking with -- always a true professional.

“He served the community and assisted countless citizens and victims in several different capacities.”

Garcia, who has been with the department for nearly 23 years, said Perez never berated him when he was learning the basics.

“He was great teacher in that he would give me the freedom to handle calls and if there was a mistake he would use it as a teaching tool and communicate with me to teach me how to learn from the mistakes,” he said.

Perez would eventually get to work alongside his one-time teacher in the JOU.

“He was a great role model for the students and staff when he was a school liaison officer (and in the JOU),” he said. “He would talk to these kids who had made mistakes about learning from their mistakes but also while being a stern officer.

“The great thing about Danny is regardless of who you are ... he doesn’t belittle you. He wants you to learn, he wants you to get better and give you the knowledge that he has … so you have the training to respond in an appropriate way.”

Perez' wife of four years, Sharon, said she has seen her husband’s compassion and love for the city he served up close.

“I see how calm and compassionate he is. You can tell by the look in his eyes and the expression on his face that he really loves what he does,” she said. “He really loves the community itself. He’s said he’s very lucky to have worked in Amarillo because of the welcoming and supportive residents.”

Sharon said she saw her husband’s longstanding career in law enforcement as a strength when the pair met.

“I obviously was scared about him doing the job he does but knowing the type of person and how strong and smart he was, I was very proud to have him do what he does,” she said. "A lot of people can’t do it, but he has all the qualities that a good policeman needs to do that job well and stay safe.”

Throughout it all, Perez let his faith in God guide him.

“He has a strong faith in God. He knew that his faith would keep him safe no matter what he went through,” Sharon said.

"I believe you have to have faith that if something happens, you know what’s going to happen to you (in the end),” Perez added. “You can have a clear mind going to work, if something bad happens to me I know exactly (where I’m going), and I’m good with that.”