Amy Santiago

Biographical Information

Full Name

Amy Santiago

Species

Coyote

Gender

Female

Status

Alive

Professional Information

Occupation

Detective, Precinct 99

Affiliation

ZPD

Personal Information

Spouse

Jake Peralta

Series Information

First Appearance

S01E11 "Precinct 99"

Last Appearance

S05E24 "Always"

Episode Count

9 (S01E11-12, S02E13-14, S05E08-09, S05E23-24)

Contents

Amy Santiago is a coyote and a detective at Precinct 99. She is married to fellow detective Jake Peralta. Amy is known for her meticulous organizational skills, her binder system, and her eleven contingency plans for any given operation.

Background

Amy Santiago is one of Precinct 99's most disciplined and organized detectives. Where her husband Jake thrives on improvisation and instinct, Amy approaches police work with systems, binders, and backup plans. She maintains eleven contingency plans for standard operations—a number that has become something of a legend among both Precinct 99 and the mammals who work alongside them.

Amy and Jake's same-species coyote marriage represents the socially conventional counterpart to the inter-species pairings of Nick/Judy and Luther/Pawbert.

Personality

Amy is driven, detail-oriented, and deeply competitive. She takes pride in her organizational systems and holds herself to exacting standards. Her binder collection is both a professional tool and a personal trademark. She can be rigid under pressure, but her thoroughness consistently proves invaluable during complex operations.

She balances Jake's impulsive energy with measured planning, though she is fully capable of matching his enthusiasm when the situation warrants it—particularly during the Halloween Heists.

Series Appearances

Season 1: The First Heist (S01E11-12)

Amy participates in the first Halloween Heist crossover alongside the full Precinct 99 squad. Her organizational approach contrasts with the more improvisational styles of Nick and Jake, contributing to the heist's chaotic energy.

Season 2: The Security Audit (S02E13-14)

Returns with Precinct 99 for the second heist, structured as a security audit. Amy's eleven contingencies are referenced as a benchmark for operational planning.

Season 5: The Otterdam Heist (S05E08-09)

During the Icener crisis, Amy brings her planning discipline to the Otterdam heist—now with twelve contingencies (the twelfth being "Jake does something unplanned"). She coordinates the operation from the surveillance van with Holt, scripting the phone call that Judy delivers to overwhelm the front desk guard with work order numbers and thermal compliance jargon. Amy monitors GPS feeds, guard rotations, and team positions simultaneously, calling out timing windows with precision. Her organizational backbone holds the heist together when Terry's erratic driving and an unexpected alarm threaten to derail the extraction.

Season 5: Pre-Wedding (S05E23)

Amy joins Jake on a video call with the pack as wedding preparations begin.

Season 5: The Wedding (S05E24)

Amy attends the double wedding alongside Jake, who serves as Nick's best mammal.

Key Relationships

Jake Peralta

Amy's husband. Their dynamic is built on complementary opposites—her planning against his improvisation—unified by shared competence and loyalty. Their same-species coyote pairing is one of four crossover couples that contrast with the pack's inter-species relationships.

Judy Hopps

Amy and Judy share a professional respect rooted in their shared experience as driven, detail-oriented female detectives proving themselves in their respective precincts.

Captain Holt

Amy deeply respects Captain Holt and aspires to his standard of disciplined leadership. Their mentor-mentee dynamic is a defining element of her professional identity.

Trivia

Amy maintains eleven contingency plans for standard operations.
Her binder system is referenced across multiple crossover episodes.
She and Jake are one of four same-species crossover couples in the series.