Instructor Biography

Alma Burke

Assistant Chief Alma Burke (retired) is the president and chief executive officer of Burke Consulting Group LLC and the former assistant chief of operations and director of the Bureau of Investigations and Crime Analysis at the University of Southern California, Department of Public Safety (USC DPS) in Los Angeles, California. In this capacity, she was responsible for collaborating with campus partners in crisis management, mental health, threat management, and criminal investigations. Assistant Chief Burke has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. She began her career in 1996 with the Los Angeles Police Department. Over the course of her tenure at the academy, Assistant Chief Burke trained more than 9,000 local and national law enforcement officers in tactics, de-escalation, mental health response, tactical communication, articulation, and the use of nonlethal weapons. She is an active reserve officer and continues to be a subject-matter expert in use of force and tactics. In 2020, she was selected as the first Latina assistant chief of the USC DPS, where she oversaw 300 public safety officers in South Central Los Angeles. Assistant Chief Burke is the current vice president of the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association. Assistant Chief Burke earned a master’s degree in executive leadership and management studies from USC and is a current doctoral student at the Rossier School of Education at USC.