This week’s Face of Northeast is Antoney Perez, a longtime Northeast resident and current Kansas City police officer.

Perez, who works out of the East Patrol Division, said he became a police officer to give back to his community.

Officer Perez has been in the line of duty for 14 years, with 10 of those spent working with inner-city youth as a mentor at the Police Athletic League (PAL) located in Northeast.

“I liked building those relationships with kids in the community and being able to change a kid’s mindset,” Perez said.

One of his favorite memories at the PAL was taking participants camping for the first time and seeing them experience something new.

Outside of working with neighborhood children, Perez enjoys living in the Northeast for the diversity and the different foods that can be found from around the world.

“I have so many, [but] my favorite food truck is Los Tres Hermanos. I like taco trucks. I like trying new food,” Perez said.

Whenever he’s not working, Perez can be found outdoors kayaking, hiking, camping, playing sports or biking.