Sergeant Brian Burger retired from the Sacramento State Police Department after 25 years of service, but not without leaving a significant impression on his department as well as with students.

Sergeant Burger, a graduate of Sacramento State, began his career on campus in 1989 and was later promoted as sergeant on July 1, 1994.

Throughout his career he made several accomplishments, but he is most remembered for his caring, good-natured personality and outstanding leadership skills, according to Sacramento State Police Chief Mark Iwasa. Iwasa has been working for the department for only three years, and within that time, he said he noticed Burger’s character and massive influence.

“I guess I’ll describe [him] as somebody who seemed to care a lot more about his troops than he did about himself,” Iwasa said. “He went out of his way to help the guys under his command, often times making sure that if he could help out in any way on a call, he [did].”

According to Iwasa, Burger supervised a quarter of the police department on campus and maintained a favorable relationship with those he managed.

“He was described as being very fair and consistent to those who worked for him,” Iwasa said.

Burger’s career consisted of an extensive list of duties, including training new police recruit officers, running the property evidence program for several years; serving as operation section chief for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials and supervising several political debates on campus. He even received a visit from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Burger was also involved in the planning of many of the special events on campus, which allowed him to develop a positive relationship with Sac State students.

“I personally interacted with students regularly, many but not all interactions were constructive,” Burger stated in an email. “The positive encounters were mostly through presentations at the student union, working with the student dorm RA’s, and recently through the student CSO (Community Service Officer) program at UPD.”

Burger loved his job and enjoyed his time at Sac State. Iwasa remembers him as a constant presence on campus.

“[He] generally always had a very positive outlook when it came to work,” Iwasa said. “He was here all the time. At the end of every year, we almost had to force him to take vacation.”

But Burger’s “nice guy” persona and charismatic leadership was often tested. In one particularly tragic incident in 1999, Burger was forced to display tremendous courage.

When an off-duty officer notified the University Police Department about a strange man waving a handgun near the Arboretum on campus, Burger immediately took action.

“I responded, confirmed he was in fact there,” Burger stated. “I coordinated a joint police response with UPD and Sacramento Police.”

After being confronted by the police officers, the gunman refused to lay his weapon down. When he pointed the gun at the officers, police were forced to shoot. The man ultimately died from his wounds, but Burger later discovered he had committed “suicide by cop.”

“Post event analysis from Sacramento Police revealed the man had mental problems, wanted to be killed by police, and most tragically, the handgun was a BB gun,” Burger stated.

While Burger’s multiple career accomplishments could never be undermined, his true legacy lies in the relationships he established with those on campus and abroad. To Police Chief Iwasa, as well as to most other people, Burger is as a polite, witty, knowledgeable, family-oriented “good guy.”

But Burger simply wants to be remembered as “human.”

“I would like to be remembered as a police officer that brought a ‘humanistic’ approach to law enforcement on campus,” Burger stated. “Police are often viewed negatively. I like to believe I put a positive spin on policing in Sac.”