Service Spotlight: Capt. Chris Amason

BY: Bill Moakley

Chris Amason almost always wanted to be a police officer. Literally, almost always.

“From a very early age, I knew I wanted to get into law enforcement,” Amason said. “At 13, I became a law enforcement explorer with the Warr Acres Police Department. That’s a program through the Boy Scouts of America that gets kids engaged in the career path.”

Amason, now a captain with the Norman Police Department and commander of its Criminal Investigations Division, stayed in the program through the age of 21 and landed his first officer’s position in Warr Acres.

“It was a real blessing to be able to step right into an officer’s position,” Amason said.

Nearly six years into his career, Amason had an opportunity to join a family business and did so for about two years.

“I realized I was unhappy,” he said. “Law enforcement was where I was supposed to be.”

While at Warr Acres, Amason came to know fellow officer Todd Gibson, who had taken a position working with NPD and eventually was elected Cleveland County Sheriff. Gibson spoke highly of the department and in 2000, Amason accepted a position in Norman.

“I’ve been here 20 years and obviously this is where I’m supposed to be,” Amason said. “I love Norman, and I love the community. It’s beenarealgood fit.”

Amason began his service in Norman as a patrol officer. In 2006, he joined the criminal investigations department as a detective, including working major cases. In 2009, he was promoted to lieutenant and returned to patrol. He later returned to criminal investigations and in 2017, he was promoted to captain, and he worked his way into his current position as the division commander.

As commander of investigations, Amason oversees three units, including criminal investigations, special investigations and property custody and the city’s crime lab. His interest in investigations began at Warr Acres, where Amason held his first detective’s position.

“I really just love it,” he said. “I’ll always have a love for patrol and really enjoyed my time there. I feel like I just have a real niche for the investigations end of it.

“It’s having the intuition,” Amason continued about what makes a good detective. “It’s being able to put together the facts of a case with a lot of different scenarios coming at you. I always say that there is a God factor involved in solving crimes in that sometimes we just get those hunches or tips that lead us in the right direction.”

As for his long career in Norman, Amason says he couldn’t think of a better community in which to work.

“It’s more than just Norman, it’s Cleveland County,” Amason said. “You have the growth of Moore. In Norman, you have the Campus Corner area. You have downtown. The west side has its own personality and the far, far east side has a rural feel to it. We just have a whole variety. And, you can’t ever forget OU.

“I like that variety of having the different feels. You have lifelong residents and an everchanging student population. It’s the best of all worlds.”

Amason holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration and ethics from Mid-America Christian University, and he is working on his master’s degree in criminal justice administration at the American Military University.

When he’s not investigating crime in Norman, Amason can often be found working alongside his wife, Amber, who owns a metro area photography business. – BSM

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