Perkins marks last day as chief

By Dave Clark, Jeremy Twitchell

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | midnight

Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins will be marking his final day in the job Sept. 5, after which he will be replaced by Henderson Deputy Police Chief Jutta Chambers — a transition city officials announced Aug. 27.

Perkins joined the department in 1984, rising to deputy chief in 2000, before being promoted to the top spot two years ago.

Mayor James B. Gibson, during a presentation to Perkins Sept. 2 during the City Council meeting, thanked the chief for those years.

“We want you to know, Chief Perkins, how much we have appreciated the opportunity to serve with you, how much we have appreciated your example, and how much we have appreciated your sincere efforts on behalf of this city and its residents.”

Perkins’ pending retirement was first announced in March, and in July he said he had not yet formalized any post-chief plans. However, he started a political consulting company a couple of years ago.

“It’s been an incredible opportunity for me,” Perkins said at the time. “I’ve spent more than half my life with the Henderson Police Department. It’s the finest police department in the country.”

When Perkins, a Henderson native, joined the department in 1984, Henderson Police had about 30 officers. Today the department employs 391 officers and 150 civilian employees. Overseeing unprecedented growth, he said, has been his foremost challenge.

“When I was honored with this position two years ago, it was to prepare the department for the next challenges it will face, and I think I’ve accomplished that,” he said.

Perkins has a private consulting company and did not rule out a return to politics. Perkins was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1992, and rose to the position of speaker in 2001, serving until 2006.

“Political office is something I enjoyed a lot as well,” he said.

Chambers will be the first female chief, and 11th overall, in the department’s 55-year history.

The city had previously announced that Chambers would be the acting chief in the wake of Perkins’ departure. She will assume the head position Sept. 8 and is scheduled to be ratified by the City Council Sept. 16.

Chambers said she was “a little overwhelmed” by the announcement.

“I’m just kind of taking it all in,” she said. “It’s nothing that I really expected to ever happen, so it’s intriguing. I’ve been with the department for 25 years, and I never dreamed back in those days that this would happen, so it’s all so surreal right now.”

For Chambers, the appointment is the most prominent of a string of firsts. She was the city’s first female police officer in 1983 and later became the first female to hold the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant, captain and deputy chief.

Asked about that distinction, Chambers shrugged it off.

“I think the city manager said it best when she said that I was chosen not because of my gender, but because of my experience,” she said. “This is about being the chief of police.”

Chambers has worked as a K-9 officer and an undercover narcotics agent for Henderson, and has worked or held supervising positions in every aspect of the department’s operations.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration in law enforcement from Nevada State College and is pursuing a master’s degree in justice management from the University of Nevada, Reno.

City Manager Mary-Kay Peck, who last year became Henderson’s first female city manager, was responsible for appointing the police chief, but her action requires ratification from the City Council, which has expressed strong support for Chambers’ appointment.

Chambers will oversee a department that has grown from 30 officers since she joined in 1983 to 391 police officers, almost 50 corrections officers and more than 150 civilian employees.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected]. Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected]

Jeremy Twitchell and Dave Clark are reporters for the Home News. Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected]. Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected].