Press Release – Out To Protect Honors Chief Kevin Burke and Officer John Reinert
June 6, 2022 (Santa Rosa, CA). The Board of Directors of Out to Protect announced today that the LGBT Community Liaison Development Grant shall be named to honor retired police chief Kevin Burke and that the Student Scholarship shall be named to honor retired police officer John Reinert.
Chief Kevin Burke began his career in Southern California as a prosector and then as a Los Angeles Police Officer. He was promoted to sergeant before returning to Northern California in 2006 to serve as Chief of Police in Lakeport, California. In 2011, Kevin was appointed chief of police in Healdsburg, California and served there for 10 years before retiring at the age of 55. Kevin Burke passed away in March of 2022. He was best known for his commitment to community policing and building trust between law enforcement and the people it serves. Chief Burke was an “out” gay man who gave his personal time to a wide variety of community organizations including working as an HIV test counselor at Strut in San Francisco. He also shared his personal story with new law enforcement recruits on the LGBT law enforcement training panel provided by Out to Protect.
President and CEO Greg Miraglia said, “Chief Burke exemplified and modeled what LGBT Community Liaisons are all about. We hope his example will serve others and that his legacy will be expanded through the ‘Kevin Burke LGBT Community Liaison Development Grant.'”
Officer John Reinert started his law enforcement career in 1996 with the San Jose Police Department. It was a time when being “out” as a gay man in law enforcement was difficult. John loved law enforcement and sacrificed happiness in his personal life for the job. He worked in the department’s video unit and loved creating media for the department and profession he loved. In 2012, Officer Reinert came out as one of the first openly gay officers on the department He made it his personal mission to be a role model and to help others by sharing his story and lending his support. Officer Reinert participated multiple times on our LGBT law enforcement training panel sharing his personal story with future law enforcement officers.
President and CEO Greg Miraglia said “Officer Reinert demonstrated being the kind of role model our scholarship program rewards. Our hope is that young and aspiring LGBTQ+ law enforcement recruits will share their own stories becoming role models and leaders in their agencies. Officer Reinert’s legacy will continue through the ‘John Reinert Student Scholarship’ program.”