Officer Hester became an Allen Police Officer in 2005 at the age of 22. He served as a patrol officer before joining the Community Relations Unit. He spent eight years in the unit leading community outreach programs such as the Citizen's Police Academy and RAD Women's Self-Defense. In 2019, Hester became a school resource officer assigned to Allen ISD middle and elementary schools. In 2022, Hester had the opportunity to become the Training Coordinator for the Allen Police Department, where he currently serves.
Outside of police work, Chris Hester is a professional magician. He has studied the art of magic since he was nine and started performing professionally in 2013. Chris Hester has performed hundreds of children's birthday shows, corporate events, private parties, and fundraisers, and recently took his talent to the "Frisco's Got Talent" stage where he was a prize-winning act. Officer Hester is looking to make magic his full-time career once he retires from law enforcement. In addition to magic, Hester creates Halloween masks for local haunted houses.
Hester is constantly asked if he uses magic at work, but says he kept it a secret for a long time: "People expect to hear funny stories about me using magic on traffic stops or something, but I’ve always kept it professional." It wasn't until he became an SRO in 2019 that his worlds converged. Hester says, "I knew magic would be a great way to engage students. I did magic daily while assigned to the schools." Eventually, Hester put together assemblies for students from kindergarten to sixth grade with "a focus on decision making, using social media responsibly, mindfulness, trusted versus untrusted adults, personal safety, and more. [Hester] called it M.A.G.I.C. – Mentoring and Guiding the Integrity of Children.”
Hester will be doing a full stage show at the Nack Theater on October 7th, 2022 at 8 p.m. Tickets are just $20 and are available through nacktheater.com or his website, hestermagic.com.
For more on Officer Hester visit our Facebook Page, Allen City Lifestyle.