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Keith Gardiner Burt

Keith Gardiner Burt
Legal Advisor
Deputy District Attorney, San Diego County District Attorney's Office (CA) (Retired)
LEIU Legal Advisor Keith Gardiner Burt was a Deputy District Attorney for 34 years, trying complex cases (e.g., multi-defendant gang homicides, death penalty and police officer victims) and in executive administration. He served 14 years as Chief of the Gang Prosecution Division and 4 years as Chief Deputy District Attorney, overseeing special prosecution areas - Intelligence, Gangs, Domestic Violence, Narcotics, Child Abuse, Juvenile, Fraud, and High-Technology Crime; he also headed the DA’s Juvenile Drug Court program.  Nationally recognized for gang prosecution, he traveled the United States, Mexico and Canada, learning and addressing aspects of gang phenomena; and he conducted gang assessments in several U.S. cities.  He consults under the auspices of various colleges and regularly addressed police, prosecutors, probation, educators, and communities regarding gang investigation and prosecution (including proper maintenance of gang files), search and seizure, and other legal and practical aspects of law enforcement and prosecution, for National College of District Attorneys, California Department of Justice, National District Attorneys Association, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and others. He has served on various commissions and was the Project Director of the Computer And Technology Crime High-tech response team (CATCH), a regional task force of federal, state, and local police and prosecutors dedicated to investigation and prosecution of high-tech crime. Career achievements include: State Prosecutor of the Year, (CDAA), 1994; Prosecutor of the Year, San Diego County, 1991 and 1995; National College of District Attorneys' Lecturer of Merit, 1993; Project Director for various undercover anti-gang operations yielding the conviction of over 400 gang members for crimes ranging from minor drug sales to homicides, 1988 - 1994; California Governor's Public Safety Award, 1991; charter member, California Gang Violence Advisory Committee 1982 - 1995; created San Diego County's Gang Prosecution Division 1981; California Department of Justice Organized Crime Bureau Advisory Committee, 1996-2002; National Youth Gang Center Advisory Board member, 1996 - 2016.  Mr. Burt has been LEIU's Legal Advisor since 1995 and within the past 5 years participated in several LEIU audits of different police departments’ intelligence functions.  He received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from United States International University in 1971, a Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law, 1974, and a California Community College Teaching Credential in 1979.