RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - In October of 2021, Brandon Luke became Rancho Cordova’s Chief of Police, after the retirement of former Chief of Police Kate Adams. He spoke at the Rancho Cordova Luncheon on May 20, talking about his background, his work, his philosophy of policing.  

Luke has 28 years of law enforcement experience.  He started out with Nevada Highway Patrol and after that was a police officer with UC Davis, before going to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in 1999. He started in Custody because that’s where you go when you start in the Sheriff’s office. Every time he was promoted – to sergeant, to lieutenant, to captain, he was sent back to Custody to help start out the new and impressionable people coming in from the Academy.  

He worked in the SRO (School Resource Officer) program. After that he went to the Narcotic Impact Division, Gangs, Youth Services. “I thought again this is the best,” Luke said, “the finest I could have, and I don’t want to go any further than this.”  He went from there to be the Sheriff’s assistant. There he got to see the political side of law enforcement, relationships, collaborations with community members and different organizations. Then he was promoted to Captain – and went back to Custody. But now he was in charge of the main jail division. He learned more. That was where he first worked with Matt Tamayo, who is now his assistant chief in Rancho. It seems indicative of Luke’s attitude that he refers to the prisoners in Custody as his “clientele.”

He has been a part of the Sheriff’s Activity League, behavioral mental health boards, coached basketball teams. He has been a POP officer, an investigator, a gang detective. He has interacted with faith-based organizations, different community organizations. Luke said, “I’ve been very fortunate to be mentored by the right people . . . I felt comfortable going into those different organizations and different groups to talk with them about their expectations, how it fits with law enforcement.

Conrade Mayer, Cordova High School in-house suspension and behavioral supervisor, came to the luncheon to hear Luke speak.  “We’ve run into each other out in the community, and he’s very active, which is good for community policing,” Mayer said.  “Kudos to him for getting involved in as many things as he can.”

Luke said that everyone sees law enforcement through the lens of their own experience. “What is your lens on how you see law enforcement?” Luke asked. “It’s not right for me to tell you. It’s not my place. Everybody here has a different lens based on their experience.”

The time came when public attitude turned against law enforcement. People would ask him, “What do you do professionally?” Luke would tell them he was a lawman. “People turn and walk the other way,” Luke said. “People roll their eyes. That’s not how it was when I got into this profession.” Then he got selected to come to Rancho Cordova. “It can’t be this good,” Luke said, “that people show how much they appreciate their law enforcement on a regular basis . . . What I’m trying to share with you is the appreciation that you guys show is something special. It’s not around the County, it’s not throughout the County. And I’ll impress upon you to continue to do what you do because we, as a department, we appreciate it. We recognize it, and we acknowledge it.”

Mayer said about Luke’s community policing focus, “People see you, get to talk to you and feel like there is a relationship there, that there is an understanding.  I think that’s all anybody can ask is that we understand their job, they understand our life.”

Luke grew up in Fresno, California, played basketball in high school, and went on to graduate from Fresno State University. He liked working with youth and coached at a young age. Luke was influenced most as a child and youth by his mother, who was strict and gave him the form and structure he needed. “She has had a lot of expectations for me,” Luke said. “At the front end, she didn’t want me to go into law enforcement, because the dangers always were a concern to her. She’s always been a big supporter for me.”