The still-young assistant chief of the Police Dept. may be the envy of his teammates.

Returning to work this morning from a two-week holiday in his native Colorado, Chris Gutierrez enters his last days as a cop before stepping into retirement at the end of July.

Doffing his Culver City uniform after nearly 30 seasons on duty, Mr. Gutierrez figures to be the safest officer in the department.

Could he have selected a richer moment to depart – just when terrorists and a rummage sale’s worth of low-brow hoodlums across the country are practicing their aims on the nearest images of law and order.

On his way to the second-floor door, Mr. Gutierrez delivered an all-star salute to his department comrades.

He vouched for the personal ammunition each fellow officer brings to every battle.

“What’s tough from the perspective of Culver City,” he said, when you consider the target-practice warfare elsewhere, “is that I know how we do things here.”

Having spent his entire career in the police station on Duquesne, “I know the people,” Mr. Gutierrez said.

“I grew up with the people within the organization. I know where their hearts are. I know how we go about doing our business here, how we involve the community, how important diversity is and treating people with respect.

“You know we are a pro-active department. We do our best to keep the city safe.”

(To be continued)