The Eagle

Canton police veteran retires

Canton police Ofc. Peter Alestra has retired from the department.

Alestra began his 25-year career with the department on Sept. 11, 2000, and has spent his career in the patrol division, primarily responding to calls for service, providing traffic enforcement, and conducting investigations.

Throughout his career, in addition to his road patrol duties, Alestra was a member of the department Rapid Response Unit, Bicycle Unit, Field Training Officer unit, and a regional Special Operations Team. For the past 18 years, he has served as a Department Range Instructor working as part of a specialty team tasked with providing tailored, consistent training to improve officer safety and operational readiness. As a Range Instructor, Alestra provided specialized and realistic training scenarios, addressing specific department threats while also fostering mentorship and building officer confidence through personalized instruction.

Alestra has received numerous awards and has collected a notable amount of thank you letters and emails from members of the community, commending his professionalism, empathy, and respect for their individual situations, noted police officials. Among his peers, Alestra is commended for the way he carried himself in the field, demonstrating a calm and level-headed approach to police work regardless of the caliber of emergencies he was responding to.

“Officer Alestra’s quiet, even-handed approach to police work helped to maintain order and reliability within the department, and we thank him for 25 years of dependable service as he enters retirement,” said Joseph Bialy, Interim Police Chief.