Deputy Chief Daniel Perea was born and raised in San Francisco. He earned a BA degree in English from the University of San Francisco. He joined the SFPD in 1991 and was assigned to Mission Station. He has served on patrol at Northern, Tenderloin, and Ingleside Stations. He has worked in the Administration Bureau and the Investigations Bureau.
He was promoted to the ranks of Inspector, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. As an Inspector, he served as a federal Task Force Officer investigating high-level drug traffickers operating in California and Mexico. He was the Commanding Officer of the Forensic Services Division and of Mission Station. In 2017, Perea was promoted to Commander in 2017 and managed patrol operations for the Central, Southern, Northern, Tenderloin, and Mission stations, in the Field Operations Bureau. He currently leads SFPD's Airport Bureau.