Tohono O'odham tribal police officer Bryan Brown was killed in the line of duty in August 2020, just months before his planned retirement. In the years since, Julian Garcia, a former Tohono O’odham Police Department gang unit detective, has worked to honor the memory of his late friend in the community Brown served and protected for 19 years.
Garcia founded the Bryan Brown Foundation, a nonprofit created in honor of his friend, with a mission to uplift Native youth through resources, mentorship, and opportunities that promote leadership, self-confidence and community engagement.
This year marks the fourth annual Bryan Brown Youth Academy, scheduled for May 31 through June 5 on Mount Lemmon. The weeklong leadership and mentorship program is designed for Native youth ages 14 to 17, primarily serving Tohono O’odham youth while also welcoming participants from other tribes.
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"The Bryan Brown Foundation is important for the Tohono O’odham community because it invests directly in the Nation’s youth while strengthening relationships between the community and those who serve it," said Garcia. "The Foundation also honors the legacy of Officer Bryan Brown by continuing his lifelong commitment to mentorship, service and protecting the community."
Garcia said it also creates positive opportunities for Native youth to build confidence, leadership skills, cultural pride and exposure to education and career pathways that may otherwise feel out of reach.
Many youth may find interactions with the justice system or emergency responders intimidating, Garcia said, often due to limited understanding of those systems or because they associate them primarily with negative experiences.
Through the foundation and the Bryan Brown Youth Academy, Garcia said, organizers "aim to change that narrative by creating positive interactions, positive memories, and a safe, healthy learning environment where youth can build trust, confidence, and meaningful relationships with the people who serve their communities. At its core, the foundation is about providing options and opportunities for Native youth."
Participants at the academy engage directly with tribal, federal, state and local public safety professionals through hands-on activities such as crime scene investigations, emergency response demonstrations, search and rescue training, wildland firefighting instruction and first aid training. Youth also participate in leadership workshops, cultural learning opportunities and discussions focused on mental wellness, substance misuse prevention, and building healthy life pathways.
Keeping the legacy of a fallen officer alive
A week in May is designated as National Police Week, an annual observance held to honor law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. In honor of the officers lost in the line of duty, the Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department held a candlelight vigil on May 15 for Brown and other fallen officers.
Brown was killed on the morning of Aug. 27, 2020, while responding with other officers to reports of an armed man driving erratically near the Desert Diamond Why Casino outside of Why, Arizona.
The suspect was later identified as Carlos Maximilliano Galvan of Maricopa, Arizona. He was sentenced on June 4, 2025, to 44 years in prison.
Galvan previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder. According to authorities, when Brown arrived at the scene, Galvan immediately approached him, holding a broken bottle.
Brown backed away while seeking cover and issuing commands. Galvan entered Brown’s patrol vehicle and sped off, police said. He drove onto Arizona 86 before making a U-turn and ramming a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle. Authorities said Galvan accelerated directly toward Brown, who fired at the vehicle before being struck.
This 2025 photo shows young people who participated in the Bryan Brown Academy. This year's leadership and mentorship program for Native youth begins Sunday on Mount Lemmon.
Brown was a U.S. Army veteran of the Gulf War. He had served with the Tohono O'odham Nation Police Department for 19 years, including 10 years as a school resource officer. He was survived by his wife, seven children, four stepchildren, eight grandchildren seven siblings and his father.
"When I first started as a police officer, Bryan Brown was my field training officer," said Garcia. "We spent countless hours together in the same patrol car while he taught me not only how to be a police officer, but how to serve people with compassion, respect and honor. He showed me the importance of listening to people, treating everyone with dignity, and truly caring about the community we served. Those lessons stayed with me throughout my career and continued to guide me to this day."
On the day Brown was killed, Garcia, who had been promoted to detective by that time, responded to the hospital to process his friend's body. Later that same day, he was tasked with assisting in the interview of the man accused of taking Brown's life.
"It is something that has stayed with me forever," said Garcia. "Bryan was there with me on my very first day as a police officer, and I was there with him on his last. We shared 11 years of friendship, service, and experiences together."
Garcia said Brown's widow, Rena Brown, has been incredibly supportive of the foundation and everything they have built over the years and attends the Youth Academy every year.
"From the very beginning, she has believed in the mission and the importance of continuing Bryan’s legacy through service to Native youth and the community," said Garcia. "Her encouragement and belief in the Foundation have meant a great deal to me personally, and she has been one of—if not my biggest—supporters throughout this journey. Her involvement helps ensure that Bryan’s legacy remains at the heart of everything we do."
Building a youth academy
Garcia has worked with tribal communities for more than 24 years and has spent nearly a decade supporting Tribal training and technical assistance initiatives through the National Criminal Justice Training Center. His work has included federally funded programs focused on missing Indigenous persons, substance misuse, Amber Alert in Indian Country and tribal victim services.
"Through my work as an Associate with the National Criminal Justice Training Center, I have had the opportunity to travel to Native communities throughout the United States and speak directly with tribal leaders, chiefs of police, advocates, and community members about the challenges they are facing," said Garcia. "Those conversations have reinforced something I strongly believe when we talk about problems, we also need to talk about solutions."
Garcia was recently recognized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona for going above and beyond in support of federal crime victims, from founding the Bryan Brown Foundation and the Bryan Brown Youth Academy, to providing training and technical assistance to tribal communities nationwide.
"Building the Bryan Brown Foundation has been a long and difficult journey, but one that has been worth every minute," said Garcia. "The idea originally started in 2019 after I attended a gang conference in California while working as a gang detective. Through my years investigating violent crime and gang activity, I realized that we could never simply arrest our way out of the problem."
He said incarceration alone was not going to solve the deeper issues impacting Native youth and communities. The real solution, he said, "was creating better options, stronger support systems and opportunities that gave young people hope and direction."
"During interviews with young gang members, I would often ask them, 'What does it mean to be Native to you?'" said Garcia. "Many times, I was met with silence or blank stares. But when I asked them what it meant to be a Blood or a Crip, they could speak for hours. That stuck with me. It showed me that many of our youth were losing their identity and sense of belonging to organizations and lifestyles that ultimately did not care about them. They were finding acceptance and purpose in gangs because those were the options placed in front of them."
He said the original vision was to create a youth academy that would reconnect Native youth to culture, community, mentorship and positive opportunities. Shortly after the idea began taking shape, the COVID-19 pandemic put many plans on hold. Then, on Aug. 27, 2020, Brown was killed in the line of duty, and the tragedy became "the fuel that pushed me to continue building the project despite the challenges."
"Since then, countless hours have gone into making the foundation a reality. The process involved building partnerships, coordinating with tribal and federal agencies, seeking funding, developing programming, organizing volunteers, navigating nonprofit requirements and gaining community trust and support," said Garcia. "In the early years, much of the weight fell on my shoulders, driven by passion, commitment and the desire to honor Bryan’s legacy in a meaningful way."
The Tohono O’odham Police Department has been heavily involved in the Bryan Brown Youth Academy since its beginning and Garcia said it is truly part of the foundation of the program. Officers and personnel from the Tohono O’odham Police Department and other tribal and first responder agencies have volunteered to mentor youth, lead presentations and support academy activities. Their involvement reflects respect for Brown and a shared commitment to investing in Native youth and strengthening community relationships with those who serve it, said Garcia.
"Both Bryan Brown and I served the Tohono O’odham Nation as police officers, and Bryan’s legacy within the Department continues to inspire support for the Academy and the Foundation’s mission," said Garcia.
Continued growth and expansion
In addition to the Bryan Brown Youth Academy summer camp, the foundation hosts and participates in community outreach events focused on youth engagement, education, cultural preservation and wellness. It also supports events that bring together tribal programs, first responders, service providers and community organizations to share resources and services while creating safe, welcoming spaces for families and youth.
Garcia said the academy has evolved over time, expanding beyond first responder engagement to include cultural preservation, leadership development, wellness programming, education and life skills to help prepare youth for the future
The program now emphasizes leadership and mentorship, with a focus on building confidence, direction and support for participants. Much of the programming is guided by student input through surveys, feedback and conversations about their experiences and suggestions for future Academies.
"We also work closely with community partners, first responders, cultural leaders, educators, and volunteers to create experiences that balance fun, education, cultural identity, teamwork and personal growth," said Garcia.
Garcia hopes the foundation will continue to grow and expand within Native communities. One of his long-term goals is to help other tribes, villages, and Pueblos across the country develop youth programs of their own that are tailored to the specific needs of their communities.
He said communities have made their message clear: They want support, opportunities for their youth, and programs that foster hope and positive change.
"My goal is for the foundation to remain part of that solution by helping Native youth realize their potential and supporting communities working to build stronger futures for the next generation," said Garcia. "The Bryan Brown Youth Academy has shown that investing in Native youth can create meaningful change."
