Retired Healdsburg Police Chief Kevin Burke, credited with overhauling police outreach to community, dies at 55

Kevin Burke, who retired last year as Healdsburg’s longtime police chief and abruptly ended his candidacy for Sonoma County sheriff last month, has died.

Healdsburg police officers found Burke dead in his Healdsburg home Tuesday evening after a friend reported he could not get a hold of him, according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

News of his death reached many in Healdsburg and beyond overnight Tuesday, prompting an outpouring of sorrow and shock.

“Kevin’s passing is a heartbreaking loss to our entire community,” Healdsburg Vice Mayor Ariel Kelley said in a written statement. “I loved him as a friend and admired and respected him deeply as a colleague. The feelings of grief we are experiencing are unfathomable. I hope the community comes together to memorialize him and create a legacy where he will be remembered and honored in Healdsburg.”

In a statement posted Wednesday afternoon to the city of Healdsburg’s Facebook page, officials called Burke “a true wit, a friend and advisor to his colleagues, and a respected member of the city team. He will be missed.”

Flags were flying at half-staff outside of City Hall in Burke’s memory.

Sgt. Juan Valencia, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the death was an apparent suicide.

Burke, 55, served as the city’s police chief from 2011 until his retirement in 2021. Previously, he was chief of police in Lakeport, Lake County.

Born and raised in St. Helena, he earned a law degree from UC Berkeley and worked as a prosecutor in Orange County.

He started in law enforcement as an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he worked from 1996 to 2006 and was promoted to sergeant, overseeing the Wilshire vice unit. He also served as an internal affairs advocate, investigating possible excessive use-of-force by an officer and other alleged misconduct.

He returned to the North Coast and became the police chief and city manager in Lakeport before taking up the head post at the Healdsburg Police Department.

He was credited with overhauling the department’s community engagement efforts amid the city’s reckoning with institutional racism and bias spurred by Black Lives Matter protests.

“He was just an incredible, kind-hearted person. He loved, loved that department. He loved being our police chief,” Mayor Ozzy Jimenez said. “And he was just a different breed of officer. He was just so progressive in his thinking and inclusive in his language.”

He also managed the city’s response and evacuation during the 2019 Kincade fire, which threatened Healdsburg’s eastern flank and forced 190,000 county residents to flee.

Burke’s commitment to the community shone through during such crises, said Glaydon de Freitas, chief executive officer of Corazón Healdsburg, a local immigrant advocacy organization.

“He was always there for the community, responding and trying to do his best, putting the community first, being side-by-side with the community,” de Freitas said. “A lot of our community members are mourning that loss, which would put me in the same position.”

Burke was a founding member of Protect and Defend, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ inclusion and representation in law enforcement. He also volunteered with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, helping LGBTQ clients navigate the HIV testing process.

“As a member of the LGBTQ community, it’s incredibly sad,” Jimenez added, pausing as he became emotional. “Mental health — it’s important.”

Burke entered the 2022 race for county sheriff and received endorsements from the Sonoma County Democratic Party, county Supervisor James Gore, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers and District Attorney Jill Ravitch before he withdrew last month, citing health issues.

Ravitch said she was one of the first Burke approached about running for office. She said she was surprised.

“He retired, he should enjoy it. But he felt strongly he could make a difference in this community,” Ravitch said.

She endorsed him because she believed he was right, evidenced by his record of unconventional and “forward thinking” policing, she said.

“He always considered the best approach to law enforcement issues using something other than a gun or loud words,” Ravitch said.

Gore said Burke was “one of the most genuine people I have met.”

Gore recalled how he rarely saw Burke out of uniform or standing to the side at community events. Rather, Burke was always actively engaged, Gore said.

“He was the example of a police chief that was a community representative, the best of the best,” Gore said. “That really trickled throughout his department.”

Gore said his heart goes out to Burke’s family.

“Very sad,” Gore said. “Very, very sad for Kevin’s family, but also the wider family of our community that knew him and admired his public service and his heart.”

He lived in his Healdsburg home with his two dogs, and “was so much more than just his job,” said Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay. “He was a traveler, an outdoorsman, a dog lover. He was very much a part of this community, just really one of the most impressive public servants I’ve had the pleasure of working around.”

Dispatch reports indicated emergency medical personnel were called to the street of his home at about 6:15 p.m.

The exact time of death has not yet been determined, but Valencia said Healdsburg police officers found Burke while conducting a welfare check.

A note was recovered from the scene.

The Sheriff’s Office was called in to assist and is taking over the investigation from the Healdsburg Police Department for multiple reasons, Valencia said, including that “they’re seeing one of their own this happened to — it’s hard for them.”

Healdsburg Police Chief Matt Jenkins, who succeeded Burke, said the shock of his death had the police department in deep mourning.

He called Burke a strong leader who was equally capable of being a boss, a close friend and a champion of the whole community.

“He always did it from the perspective of taking care of the people and how we could make ourselves better,” Jenkins said.

Staff writers Emma Murphy, Colin Atagi and Austin Murphy contributed to this report.

You can reach Staff Writer Emily Wilder at 707-521-5337 or emily.wilder@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @vv1lder.