Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley has announced the historic promotion of Tina Perkins from interim chief criminal investigator to chief criminal investigator. Perkins is the first woman in the history of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office to be named chief.
Perkins began her law enforcement career in 2007 as a police officer for the UCSB Police Department. In 2013, she began her employment at the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office as an investigator where she worked assignments in the Welfare Fraud Unit, Cannabis Compliance Team, Arson, Environmental Crimes, and Consumer Fraud.
In 2020, Perkins was promoted to the position of commander of the Special Investigations Unit and Lompoc Criminal Investigative Team.
Perkins was born in Santa Barbara and raised in Ojai. She attended Santa Barbara City College, California State University, San Marcos and California State University, Northridge. She holds an associate’s degree in administration of justice, a bachelor’s degree in political science, and a master’s in public administration.