2 Pasadena PD chief appointments made after retirement of John Perez

Pasadena Police Department Chief John Perez retired this Wednesday, Jan. 5 after almost 37 years with the department.  

“He has been a leader, mentor and advocate not only internally but to numerous other departments and Chiefs. He literally grew up in this city and even met his wife while working here and they now have two handsome teenage sons,” said Pasadena Interim City Manager Cynthia Kurtz

Kurtz announced two Interim Police Chief appointments on Monday, as Cheryl Moody will become the Interim Police Chief on January 6 and serve in this role until May 2. Moody will be the first woman in the police department’s more than 130-year history to serve as Deputy Chief.

She was hired as a police officer with Pasadena Police Department in 1992 after serving three years in the United States Air Force and working four years with the Long Beach Police Department. She possesses nearly three decades of policing experience, leading many high-performing teams over the years, including the Special Enforcement Section. 

She has served on Pasadena Police Department’s Executive Command Staff for five years and has held executive board positions with local and national chapters of The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). She currently serves as the president of the Los Angeles County Chapter of Women Leaders in Law Enforcement (WLLE).

More recently, she has overseen all of Pasadena Police Department’s daily operations, as well as the department’s special projects and department’s reorganization efforts.

Moody obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Long Beach in Emergency Management, and her Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Woodbury University. 

The second appointment handed out by Kurtz was awarded to Jason Clawson, who will assume the role on May 2 and serve until a new City Manager makes their permanent appointment.

Clawson is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and has 30 years of experience in municipal law enforcement operations, serving the citizens of Pasadena. He has worked many ranks across various divisions to include Patrol Operations and Investigations. 

As a current Police Commander, he has experience in handling neighborhood quality of life issues by focusing on premise liability, prevention, intervention and enforcement methods. He led a Safe Streets Task Force while assigned as a Task Force Supervisor with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, focusing on the transnational gang problem. 

Clawson also has coordinated jurisdictional Mutual Aid, Critical Incident Response Team operations, and focused on problem locations through community policing efforts in high crime zones.

He has served as the Press Information Officer where he directed and coordinated the activities within the Office of the Police Chief, including audits and inspections and the on-going review of policy and procedures. 

He served as the Project Director of a $2.5 million dollar grant from the Bureau of State and Community Corrections focusing on reintegration efforts of previously incarcerated community members returning to society. Clawson has participated in the development of goals, objectives and key performance indicators for assigned divisional functions as well developing and administering divisional budgets, to include homeless and mental health initiatives, procurement of technology and investigations.

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