John Pelletier is the recently appointed Chief of Police of the Maui Police Department in the state of Hawaii. After two decades of service as a captain in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, he assumed his new role in December 2021. He is an alumnus of both the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the prestigious FBI National Academy.
Family Background
John Pelletier was born in Buffalo, New York to a schoolteacher mother and a police sergeant father. His stepmother rose to the rank of deputy police commissioner for the Buffalo Police Department.
He lived with family in California, Florida, and New York before ultimately deciding to call Las Vegas home when he was 17.
John Pelletier’s Career
John Pelletier first became a member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 1999 and eventually worked his way up to the rank of captain in 2020.
He was the head of the narcotics program and was responsible for multiple significant incidents, including the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting in 2017 and the probe into Stephen Paddock, the perpetrator who caused the deaths of 58 people and wounded many more.
John Pelletier was chosen by the Maui Police Commission to be the new chief of the Maui Police Department from a field of five interviewees in October 2021. On December 15th of the same year, he officially took the oath and took the helm of the department.
John Pelletier expressed his belief that his experience with the Las Vegas Police Department would make him the perfect candidate to lead the department at one of the largest tourist destinations in the world. He aspired to “reboot the entire department.”
During his appointment, he emphasized the importance of making sure that all people in Hawaii felt that they had equal rights and legal protection regardless of their racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. He stated,
“Our diversity is our strength, make no mistake about that.”
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier was heading the search operations during the Hawaii wildfires in August 2023. He provided an update on the identification of the deceased who had been affected by the terrible wildfire that had started in Hawaii on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. This wildfire has been deemed the most destructive one in the United States in more than a century.
Pelletier revealed on Saturday, August 12, that only three percent of the search area had been surveyed by official cadaver dogs. He further commented that the number of fatalities, at the moment standing at 96, was expected to rise, as the full scope of the fire had not yet been determined. He added:
“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles, and it is full of our loved ones.”
As the head of the Maui Police Department, he supervises a unit of over 300 police officers and 100 civilian personnel. He is in charge of guaranteeing the security of the 165,000 locals and 3 million tourists who visit Maui County every year.
Personal Life
John Pelletier of Buffalo, New York, has been wed to his high school sweetheart, Cristy, for the past three decades. She is a dedicated housewife and a constant companion on his outings and engagements.
Additionally, she is quite active in the world of social media, using platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to express her opinions on different matters and to show off her hobbies and passions.
The couple have two teenage children, a boy and a girl. Their names are not publicly known, but they have been described as intelligent, athletic, and well-mannered.
They go to a private school in Maui and participate in extracurriculars such as sports, music, and art. In addition, they like to spend time with their relatives in Maine and Florida, including their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
John Pelletier’s Net Worth
John Pelletier is rumored to have a net worth of approximately $12 million in 2023. His annual salary as the head of the Maui police department is $175,000.
