‘We need to always remember’: Chandler Police Assistant Chief reflects on 9/11

CHANDLER, AZ — “Every time I see the videos it just brings back those feelings, you know those memories, and to me, that call to do my job as best I can to help those folks and to always be vigilant,” Perez said.

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Fewer than a dozen officers who worked for Chandler Police on 9/11 are still with the department today. Assistant Chief Chris Perez is one of them, Officer Perez at the time.

“I was in early because our team was preparing to go to rifle training for patrol rifle training, and it was before 7:00, I recall that, and that’s when we got the news of the first plane hitting the tower,” Perez said.

The training was canceled after the second plane hit.

“We were in essence, on high alert, the team that we were on was the detective team, we weren’t dedicated to patrol, but we did move out to kind of supplement patrol in the event that something larger was happening,” Perez said.

Perez says that day didn’t just change America, it changed policing.

“To me it just puts me on guard for, you know, what it means to be an American, what it means to safeguard America and protect it from enemies inside and out,” Perez said.

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25 years later, he still carries it, and passes it on to the officers who came after him.

“We need to always remember those people, those 29-hundred plus people, almost 3,000 people that lost their lives, innocent people, and also first responders that were called to help and assist,” Perez said.

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