Santa Ana's civilian investigator fighting for crime victims - Spectrum News 1

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IRVINE, Calif. — Inside the Santa Ana Police Department doors is a man who doesn't have a badge but is helping police track down the bad guys.

Civilian Investigator Ryan Berger came into the department's doors 17 years ago as an intern and now helps solve crimes and close cases.

What You Need To Know

Civilian Investigator Ryan Berger says no one would hire him because of his disability, until he got a call from Santa Ana PD

Berger is assigned cases and investigates them, while also testifying in court

He comes from a law enforcement family, as his father was a detective at Santa Ana PD who retired in 2002

When he's not tracking down suspects, Berger spends his free time at concerts

"It was challenging at first because I never had experience with this stuff," Berger said.

Berger started out in the field operations unit and worked his way up to check fraud, auto theft and assault cases. After graduating from California State University, Fullerton, in 2002, he had plans to pursue a career with his business degree but said no one would hire him.

"I was being rejected, mainly because, I am assuming, because of my disability," he said. "People are intimidated with that, and so they are a little hesitant to hire somebody like me because what they see is dollar signs."

Berger gets around in his wheelchair. He was born with Brittle Bone Disease. When he was younger, something as small as a sneeze or cough could break a bone. When he was about to give up on his employment search, Berger got an unexpected phone call.

"Santa Ana Police Department called and offered me this job," he said. "It gave me a sense of purpose."

Law enforcement is in Berger's blood. His father retired from the Santa Ana Police Department in 2002 after working as a detective.

"To be on the same team my father was a part of is a dream come true," Berger said.

Berger is assigned, investigates and even testifies in court on assault cases, just like sworn officers do. Detective Sgt. Sandy Kim assigns him the cases and says Berger handles a lot of time-consuming work that can delay a case from being turned over for prosecution, such as looking at surveillance video.