126 Det. Mary Pekas

Mary has called Tucson home for more than 15 years after moving to the Old Pueblo to serve at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Shortly after leaving active duty military, she joined the Tucson Police Department in hopes of one day investigating sex crimes. In 2016, she joined the department's Adult Sexual Assault Detail as a detective, and she has proudly served with that unit since. Mary is passionate about engaging professionals from a variety of disciplines to building strong, connected teams to improve law enforcement and community response to sexual assault. In 2020, Mary joined the Sex Assault Kit Initiative grant team, which has re-opened hundreds of cold cases after the department tested its backlog of sex assault kits. She hopes to use the lessons from the project to enhance modern investigative practices and build protocols to prevent current and future cases from going cold. Mary is pursuing her master's degree in organizational leadership at Northern Arizona University. She also serves as a public affairs officer at the 162nd Wing, Arizona Air National Guard. She enjoys baking, biking, and exploring new places with her husband. https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/theres-a-detective-at-the-door-she-wants-to-say-sorry/article_53700d6c-b44e-11eb-80cd-6bf316ab9f00.html