Officer Brad Saunders was born and raised in Garden Grove, CA. He graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance in 1983. He obtained his Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University in 1999. Brad graduated from Orange County Sheriff's Academy in 1983 and joined Garden Grove PD, where he served as a Master Officer, DARE Officer and a Field Training Officer. In 1991, Brad resigned from law enforcement to start a career in the private sector. He returned to law enforcement in 2002 when he joined Tustin PD as a Reserve Officer. In 2009 he became a full-time officer and is currently assigned to North Area Command in Patrol. Brad also serves as a Terrorism Liaison Officer.

At the end of 2010, Officer Saunders was at Tustin Motor Lodge on El Camino Real, responding to a warrant hit on a vehicle in the parking lot. Officer Saunders made contact with the owner of the vehicle in his motel room and discovered he was not in very good health. The gentleman (John Doe) indicated to Officer Saunders that he was battling cancer and was on a stomach feeding tube. John was severely underweight and appeared very weak. While Officer Saunders was speaking with John, he noticed there were several empty fast food establishment bags around the room.

Officer Saunders left the motel and decided to return a couple of days later and talk with John more about his condition and his situation. John had been living at Tustin Motor Lodge for the last 6 – 7 years and while he had some family in the area, he had little contact with them and had to fend for himself. After paying for his medication and his lodging, he had very little money left over for food. John shared with Officer Saunders that he needed to gain weight in order to continue his cancer treatments, as his doctor was concerned about his significant weight loss.

Brad went home and shared this information with his wife and they decided to start taking home cooked meals to John. For the last year, Brad has been taking meals, juice and high calorie snacks to John to help ease his burden.

Many of the transients in our City have significant medical and/or mental health issues which make it doubly hard for officers to deal with. Due to significant budgetary cuts by the State, many programs, shelters and other resources are not available to these individuals. Officer Saunders recognized this and took it upon himself to take an innovative approach and think out of the box to help John.

For his warm heart, diligence and community service, Officer Brad Saunders has been selected as the recipient of the Chamber of Commerce Officer of the Month award for the month of December 2011. Congratulations Officer Saunders!

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