Burbank Police name Sgt. Adam Cornils new PIO

Burbank residents will be seeing a new face on the news, as Burbank Police Sgt. Adam Cornils was recently named public information officer of the Burbank Police Department.

A 16-year law-enforcement veteran, the last nine of which were spent in Burbank, Cornils replaces former Sgt. Darin Ryburn, who retired last August after 28 years on the force.

During his career in Burbank, Cornils spent four years on the gang-enforcement team of the patrol division — first as an officer investigating shootings, robberies and other violent crimes, and later as a sergeant overseeing those investigations.

While on the team, Cornils helped take down a gang-related credit-card skimming operation, which was the culmination of a nearly yearlong investigation.

In his new role, which he assumes Wednesday, he said he is looking forward to working with a different segment of the community in Burbank. The new post involves media relations, as well as overseeing community outreach programs.

“It’s going to be a change in pace, but I’m actually looking forward to engaging with a different part of the community that I haven’t spent a lot of time with,” he said. “It’s going to be an opportunity to get out of my pigeon hole a little bit.”

That includes continuing to inform residents about ways to protect themselves against one of Burbank’s most common problems — property crimes, such as car thefts and home burglaries.

“We’re here to protect the community,” he said. “Sometimes that’s being able to educate them on how to protect themselves.”

Meanwhile, Cornils will continue to oversee the agency’s K-9 unit, which includes two police dogs, Stevo and Kimo, and their handlers. He’s also one of 22 members of Burbank’s Special Weapons and Tactics team.

That means that when the SWAT team is called out to the scene of an incident of media interest, he’ll most likely be in the field instead of in front of the cameras.

Cornils’ interest in law enforcement began when he was 19, after his uncle, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective, sent him on a ride-along with his colleagues on patrol.

“I had a great time. I loved it,” he said. At the time, Cornils was studying to become an engineer. He subsequently changed his major and signed up to volunteer at his hometown police agency in Monrovia. After he graduated from college, he was hired onto the Monrovia force, where he stayed until he joined Burbank’s department in 2006.