Maui Police Chief John Pelletier describes ongoing efforts to identify the dead as Hawaii struggles to recover from the devastating wildfire that broke out on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. According to reports, the tragedy is the worst wildfire to hit the United States in more than a century.
Find out more about the in charge of the Maui Police Department here. Here we discuss his age, family, marriage, and career.
Meet John Pelletier, Maui Police Chief
John Pelletier is serving as the chief of the Maui Police Department. Maui is currently in a state of tragedy as numerous individuals have died as a result of the devastating wildfires that have burnt Maui in Hawaii, and Lahaina’s historic center has been largely destroyed.
The most catastrophic wildfire in US history has claimed the lives of at least 96 people, destroying the ancient town of Maui in Hawaii. According to ITVX sources, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier stated that the death toll is probably going to rise and that “none of us really know the size of it yet” because attempts to locate and identify the dead are still in their early stages.
The police chief continued, “We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least five square miles and it is full of our loved ones.” Crews using cadaver dogs have barely covered 3% of the search area.
According to reports, his present position involves managing police and public safety activities for 165,000 people and 3 million visitors each year in Maui County.
John Pelletier Career
Maui police chief John Pelletier is a third-generation police.
In 1999 at the age of 17, John joined law enforcement and has been serving as a police officer ever since. Before joining Maui’s Police Department, he worked as a Las Vegas police captain.
According to media accounts from Las Vegas, he has witnessed his fair share of bloodshed, having fired at three individuals and killed one of them.
John oversaw the situation at a country music festival when a shooting took place in 2017 and left 58 people dead. In addition, the shooter committed suicide before being captured by police. The death toll increased by two in October 2020, according to Las Vegas police, bringing the total to 60. In an effort to prevent police shootings, he also assisted in implementing significant reforms to the department’s use of force guidelines.
John was sworn in by Maui Judge Kirstin Hamman in December 2021. At the time, he was accompanied by Cristy and their two children. Later, he also formed Maui Police Department Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel.
In his capacity as the Major Violator/Narcotics, he was responsible for overseeing a team of investigators and police supervisors who worked to make Las Vegas the safest city in the country.
When John Pelletier, a Las Vegas police captain, was appointed police chief in Maui, the Las Vegas Review-Journal covered the story, stating that Pelletier had informed the commission that he had overseen the K-9 and SWAT divisions while working for Metro, in addition to serving as a detective sergeant in the gang unit, in internal affairs, and as a police academy instructor, among other roles.
He left behind a 22-year career with the department that’s seen him rise through the ranks to manage stations ranging from the far-flung, rural regions of the city’s northwest sector to the urban core and the gambling capital known as the Las Vegas Strip.
John has contributed to the creation of community policing initiatives along the road, with one, in particular, helping to rehabilitate one of the city’s most violent neighborhoods. He wanted to restructure the oversight of the use of force occurrences in Maui County and bring those effective programs to Maui.
John had always planned to move to Maui. An opportunity arose on Oct. 5, 2021, when the Maui Police Commission unanimously selected him to be the county’s next police chief.
John was sworn in by Maui Judge Kirstin Hamman in December 2021. At the time, he was accompanied by his wife and their two children. Later, he also formed Maui Police Department Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel.
“I’d really like to serve and give to the community, specifically Hawaii, specifically Maui. And serve it and not just take from it,” John said at the time. “I can offer these things — this policy experience. And it’s something that I can offer and really give, and I feel that there’s a genuine need for what I can do.”
The reported annual salary of the Maui police chief is $158,851. According to Transparent Nevada, a website that publishes information on pay, he made more than $171,000 as a police captain in the previous fiscal year.
His education at the FBI National Academy includes enrollment in FBINA 276 and UNLV (University of Nevada-Las Vegas), according to his LinkedIn profile.
John Pelletier Age
1972 marked the birth year of John Pelletier, in August 2023, he turned 51 years old.
Is John Pelletier Married?
Yes, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier is married to his wife Cristy Pelletier. Although John has lived in many places, he and his wife had deep connections with Maui.
In fact, John proposed to Cristy in 2004 in Maui. In an interview from 2022, John recounted driving down South Kihei Road in 2004 and telling his wife that he wanted to end up on the Valley Isle. “She’s always sort of known what the plan was, and has really always been a part of it,” the police chief said.
They married sometime after that. Cristy and Maui police chief John share a 14-year-old twin son and daughter.
Cristy is 42 years old and is likely a stay-at-home mom looking after her teenage kids.
John Pelletier Family
As stated earlier, John Pelletier comes from a family who served their lives in law enforcement. First generation police was his great-uncle who also fought in the Pacific in World War II.
His father Lawrence Pelletier also followed in his great-uncle’s footsteps and served as a police sergeant. Lawrence is 81 years old and lives in Buffalo, New York. He was the son of Rudolph and Elizabeth Pelletier. Lawrence’s mother passed away on 29 June 2000.
Besides Lawrence, Elizabeth was survived by her other children Margaret (George) Povinelli, Janet (James) Corda, Patricia (Thomas) Patterson, Dennis (Renee), Gregory (Seija) and Gary (Maria) Pelletier, and Karin (Bruce) Elder. Sadly, Dennis who served as served president of the Monroe County Legislature, collapsed in 2004 in Albany while delivering a speech before a meeting of the New York State Association of Counties and was pronounced dead at the age of 54.
Meanwhile, his mother Janice Sikora Pelletier was a school teacher. Born in 1944, Janice is currently 79 years old. She is available on Facebook. She is the daughter of Frank and Lucille Sikora.
His stepmother Crystalea Burns Pelletier became the deputy police commissioner for the Buffalo Police Department.
John lost his maternal aunt MaryAnne Powell in April 2022. She was 83 years old.
John Pelletier Height
John Pelletier’s height measured above 5 feet 10 inches.
Related FAQs
-
When Is John Pelletier Birthday?
John Pelletier’s birthday is in August.
-
Where Is John Pelletier From?
John Pelletier was born in Buffalo, New York. He moved around the country, living with family in California, Florida, and New York before landing in Las Vegas when he was 17. Starting in 2022, he and his family have settled in Maui.
-
Is John Pelletier On Instagram And Facebook?
No, John Pelletier doesn’t seem to be on Instagram or Facebook.
1 Comment