Sergeant Cody Burger

Age: 32
Field Operations—Patrol
Topeka Police Department

Sergeant Cody Burger has served the Topeka Community for many years as part of the Topeka Police Department. Each day he strives to lead his team to proactively initiate crime reduction strategies to create a better Topeka. Cody took the lead in launching the See Topeka Program and the Greater Topeka Public Safety Foundations. Both of these will be used to further enhance public/private partnerships to increase the safety of our community.

As chair of the Leadership Herd at FORGE, Cody is creating opportunities for other FORGE members to develop their leadership skills. Cody also works to attract and retain young talent to Topeka through the Top City Interns program.

“Leadership can be extremely stressful.
Don’t lose your sense of humor and
laugh when appropriate.”

What is the most important characteristic that every leader should possess?
Resilience. A leader needs to learn to adapt and recover quickly from unexpected challenges and adversity. A leader needs to accept the unexpected and keep moving forward.

What was your first job?
I started helping my dad on our family farm at around age 12. It helped me understand what responsibility was. He paid me an allowance for helping him. It was nice to earn my own wages so that I’d have money to spend or save.

Best advice you have received?
As I was growing up, my mom continually told me that she and my father were not going to give any handouts to me, that I would have to work hard to earn everything I wanted to achieve. This undoubtedly instilled the strong work ethic I carry with me today.