The Sedona Police Department welcomed its new commander of special operations and investigations, Heather Penner, in a pinning ceremony on Monday, Oct. 20.

Her husband, Steve, who’s also had a lifetime career of law enforcement and retired a few years ago, pinned her badge.

“This is your fourth week [with SPD],” SPD Chief Stephanie Foley said to Penner during the pinning ceremony.

“You’ve already really brought a lot to the team. And I know a lot of people have talked, they’re really appreciative of your work, and you’re showing it every day.

“You’re beating me to work every day, so I really got to switch it up,” Foley said to the crowd of about 20 people.

“It’s crazy, … and I’m actually early, and every time I get to the parking lot and I’m like ‘no, she beat me again.’”

Penner officially retired from a 24-year career with the Tempe Police Department about a year ago and has been living on three acres in Cornville with her husband and two horses since then.

“My husband wanted to get out of the heat of the Phoenix area,” she said. “We also wanted to see if we could get a little bit of land to have a couple of horses.”

Penner said she wanted horses because she grew up around them and was even “a young rodeo-like princess or queen in Apache Junction,” she said.

Now, with her kids out of the house, she had the ability to have her own.

“In the Tempe Police Department, we do have a mounted unit,” she said. “So I rode horses as part of my law enforcement career and supervised that unit for several years. My husband did the same.”

Penner’s husband now drives for Pink Jeep Tours.

Penner earned a bachelor degree in biochemistry and educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and a master’s in educational leadership from Grand Canyon University. She said when she was younger, she wanted to be a scientist or a doctor. When Penner got to college, she started branching out a bit.

“I thought I wanted to teach higher ed,” Penner said. “So I always try to do … internships or work in the field when I was studying. And I also learned at that time that I didn’t want to teach higher ed.”

In college and when she was growing up, Penner spent plenty of time in Sedona and the trails in the area.

“My parents were big campers and hikers, so we’ve always been out in nature,” she said.

Penner began working in law enforcement shortly after she graduated.

Since Penner moved to the Verde Valley, she’s been getting involved in the community where she can. Lot’s of substitute teaching, she said, and has worked everywhere from Sedona to Camp Verde.

“I spent a lot of time at Sedona West Elementary School, which really, I think, secured … the commander spot,” Penner said.

When Penner saw the job open up in Sedona for the commander position, she decided to give it a shot.

“I supervise investigations portions, so detectives,” she said. “Anything that patrol can’t get to or the follow up is expensive, or outside the … adjacent community, those detectives take care of those incidents. I also supervise special events and our traffic unit — so our motorcycles — school resource officer, the new Community Outreach Officer, as well as volunteers, which we have quite a few, almost 20.”