ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Roanoke City Police Chief Chris Perkins served his last day with the department on Monday. In December, Perkins announced plans to retire. He first joined the police force in 1992. He rose through the rankings and spent the past five years as chief.
After nearly 24 years of service, Chris Perkins took part in his final line-up with the Roanoke City Police Department. The chief and other officers received their assignments and headed out the door. Perkins returned to District 4, the area where his career started in Northwest. Coworkers said Perkins was known for being a fast officer. He recalled his early days of chasing criminals.
"My academy-mate Captain Charles ran down the hills. We started a foot pursuit, we started from that building," said Chief Perkins. "We walked up on a group with crack and a gun."
On his last day before retirement, the chief partnered with Officer Larry Gunter Jr.. Gunther has been with the department for nearly two and a half years. Decades of experience separate the two officers but they share a common passion to protect and serve. Gunther said he feel it is an honor to patrol with the retiring chief who helped make neighborhoods safer.
In his 5 years as chief, Perkins used programs such as Drug Market Initiative (DMI) to lower crime rates.
"DMA was more of a culture change for the police department," Perkins said. "Yes we need to work drugs, yes we need to take the violent offenders to prison but no we don't have to arrest everybody."
By changing the culture of the department, Perkins became known for improving relations between officers and the community. While overall crime is down, categories of crimes like murders went up in 2015. Perkins said he hopes the community continues to work together to solve crime problem.
Chief Perkins said he plans to go fishing with his dad and take at least a month off. Deputy Chief Tim Jones has been named acting chief.