After starting with the Sedona Police Department on April 18, 2005, Sgt. Chris Stevens, 49, will be going out of service one last time before retiring on Saturday, May 31.

“My uncle was a was a police officer in Utah, and when I was in college, I would have Sunday dinners at [his] house,” Stevens said. “He was one of my first inspirations, to give me the idea that it would be something that I could support a family on … and his opinion was that I would be successful in it.”

Stevens was born in Michigan and grew up in Rohnert Park, Calif., before graduating from Brigham Young University with a communications degree, where he worked in media relations for the university’s athletic department and played football during the 1996, 1997 and 2000 seasons. He served a mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Mexico City.

He rushed 1,260 yards and scored 14 touchdowns during his senior year at Rancho Cotate High School and competed in track.

“Football teaches you discipline and teaches you how to work with others and be on a team,” Stevens said. “The best thing that I could have done, like post career with the after football, was I got to work with the athletic department, and that’s where I learned how to write concise reports.”

After graduation, Stevens relocated to Scottsdale and met officers from SPD at a job fair after living there for a couple of years.

“I chose to go to Sedona because I grew up in wine country and I wasn’t liking the big city, and wanted more of an outdoors type of atmosphere,” Stevens said. “I had always dreamed of buying a motorcycle … so once I got the job with [SPD] I bought a motorcycle so I could ride around the area.”

As a sergeant, Stevens supervises a patrol squad with three officers. In addition, he oversees the motor unit and the community service officers, who conduct parking enforcement in Uptown and at trailheads. On especially busy days, he may be supervising up to three officers, two motor unit officers and two community service officers.

“The first assignment that I had, other than patrol officer, was field training officer,” Stevens said. “I was that for a short period of time before I moved over to detectives. I was promoted to detective in 2008 and I worked as a detective for 13 years, up until about 2018 when I became a full-time sergeant.”

Stevens met his future wife, Bobbie, on Earth Day 2007. They married on Cinco de Mayo 2008 and later welcomed a daughter, Ryann, and a son, Ryder.

“We met because I was on patrol and she had pulled over on the side of the road with her flashers on,” Stevens said. “Saw there was a state vehicle with its flashers on. So I pulled off to see if they were having an issue. And she said that she had pulled over to make a phone call. And so I gave her my business card and told her, if needed anything, wanted to ask any questions or need help with the events to give me a call or email me, and that was it. A couple days later, she sent me an email … and it just continued to progress.”

Stevens said the achievements he was proud of included two lifesaving commendations, one for performing CPR and using an AED during a Feb. 21, 2024, call at Safeway to assist an employee who was not breathing, and another for a Nov. 19, 2020, incident in which he provided medical aid to a 69-year-old man in West Sedona, alongside with K-9 Officer Jonathan Reed, Officers Justin White, Rodrigo Ramirez and Jesse Santos and Communication Specialist Johnna Johnson.

“To me, it’s like I was able to give them longer lives and give them more time with their families,” Stevens said.

Stevens’ retirement will be short-lived since he is starting a new job on Monday, June 9 as a special agent with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office’s Criminal Division focusing on fraud investigation.

“l’ll be working out of Prescott and I’ll be focused on Northern Arizona,” Stevens said. “So I anticipate that I’ll have follow up investigations involving the residents of Sedona. … I live in Prescott Valley, so I’ve been commuting for the past eight [or] nine years to Sedona for work. … It’s just something that’s going to be closer to home. It’s going to allow me to spend more time