Antonio "Tony" Cortina started his career as a police officer with the San Marino Police Department in 1997. In 1999, he was laterally transferred to the West Covina Police Department. As an officer, he worked patrol, became a police K9 handler, and worked as a detective with the Department's Special Enforcement Team (SET). Soon after, Tony was promoted to the rank of corporal and became a field training officer (FTO) and eventually was assigned as the Department's training manager, responsible for department-wide training.
Tony was then promoted to the rank of sergeant. As a sergeant, Tony worked patrol, supervised the major narcotics unit, the detective bureau, and the professional standards unit. Tony was also assigned to be the chief's adjunct.
Upon being promoted to the rank of lieutenant, Tony served as a watch commander, was assigned a service area of the City to oversee and manage the Department's canine unit and jail operations. Tony was then 2021 and oversaw the patrol division.
Tony was sworn in as West Covina's 14th police chief in 2025.
During his career, Tony served 19 years on SWAT (8 years as a team leader), was a defensive tactics instructor for 24 years, and has taught defensive tactics and use of force, not only within the Department but also nationally and internationally. Tony also holds several black belt rankings in various martial arts and has been inducted into two martial arts hall of fame organizations. Tony was a recipient of the Department Bronze Star and several other meritorious citations.
Chief Tony Cortina has a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership from Penn State University and has completed his master's degree in law enforcement and public safety leadership from the University of San Diego. He is also the recipient of the FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award, he is a California Office of Emergency Services (OES) state-certified emergency management specialist, and a graduate of the POST Supervisory Leadership Institute.