Upon being promoted to sergeant, Captain Mike was assigned to Lennox Station where he worked as both the watch sergeant and field sergeant, supervising a large cadre of hard-working deputies assigned to the station. After approximately 16 months at Lennox, and due in large part to his outstanding reputation as a dogged investigator, Bornman was selected to work a high-priority joint task force involving agents from the FBI, IRS, and the US Attorney’s Office out of Los Angeles.
Upon completion of his time at the task force, Bornman was first assigned as the Operations Sergeant at the Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) and then assigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), where he served as a member of the Deputy-Involved Shooting and Deputy-Involved Force rollout team, which responded to incidents throughout the County area. In this capacity, Bornman investigated hundreds of administrative investigations involving allegations of possible misconduct by department members. He assisted in hundreds more.
Due to his reputation of being able to expertly and ethically investigate the most serious cases in a timely manner, Bornman was selected to work as an aide to a Department Assistant Sheriff, where he was instrumental in the creation of the Deputy Performance Profile and the Personnel Performance Index, both of which studied potential problematic employee conduct. Bornman and his team also debunked allegations that had been contained in the “Iran-Contra Guns for Drugs” case, disproving a series of false allegations that had been made against Department investigators.
Upon his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, Captain Mike was assigned to the Inmate Reception Center (IRC), where he oversaw the Classification Unit, which oversaw the intake, classification, and housing of all inmates entering the LASD jail system. Bornman worked the Pitchess Detention Center, North and South Facilities, and was then assigned as the Unit Commander of Custody Support Services (CSS), which studied all aspects of the Custody Division. This included budget oversight and evaluation, inmate deaths, uses of force, strategic planning, and constant liaison with the LA Board of Supervisors, as well as the ACLU and outside law enforcement agencies.
During his time as a lieutenant, Bornman also worked a number of assignments, including as the detective bureau lieutenant at Crescenta Valley Station and Operations Lieutenant at Altadena, Crescenta Valley, and Temple Stations. He also served as the Law Enforcement Liaison between the LASD and the contract city of La Canada Flintridge. He also worked as a scheduling and training lieutenant,
During this time, Captain Bornman also built out and launched the SHARE Tolerance Program, which is a mobile hate crime education program, focused on middle and high school students. The program earned the Helene and Joseph Sherwood Prize for Combatting Hate, which was presented by the ADL and Museum of Tolerance.
Captain Mike was promoted to Captain and selected to create and build out the Education Based Incarceration Bureau (EBI) which provides education and life skills training to inmates in the jail system. EBI also oversaw the Community transition Unit (CTU), which assists people leaving the jail system in finding out-of-custody housing and treatment programs. After EBI was successfully launched and was up and running, Bornman was assigned to another newly created bureau, Population Management Bureau (PMB), which oversaw the intake, classification and housing of all inmates coming into the LASD jail system.
Captain Bornman holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Police Science, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Writing, and a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership. He has a certification in Emergency Operations Management from Texas A&M University, as well as certification in Executive Development from Cornell University.
Captain Bornman has been awarded the Sheriff’s Department’s highly coveted Exemplary Service Award three times, and the Distinguished Service Award another three. He also received multiple commendations for his leadership skills and ability to distill the most challenging issues into basic, easy to understand components. He was known for possessing unquestioned integrity.
In his free time, Captain Mike is a life-long Dodgers and Rams fan, and enjoys playing golf, travel, reading, and traveling with his lovely wife, Shawn.