Brent has worked in public safety communications for over four decades, most recently as emergency communications manager for Douglas County, Nevada. Brent was born in Orange County, California, and moved with his family to Boulder, Colorado, when he was 12. After graduating high school, Brent went to work as a public safety telecommunicator for the Colorado State Patrol. A year later, he found himself back in Boulder County as a telecommunicator and communications supervisor for the next nine years. In 1989, Brent was appointed the communications director in Aspen, Colorado, heading up the combined multi-agency communications center and managing the county’s radio system. Ten years later, Brent moved to California as telecommunications manager for the Contra Costa County Fire District.
In 2008, Brent answered an ad to be the director of public safety for the Cayman Islands Government. Upon completing his contract, Brent and his wife, Vicki, moved back to the U.S. where they landed in Honolulu and Brent was hired as the communications center manager for the University of Hawaii’s Department of Public Safety. Desiring to get back to the mainland, Brent was called to be the emergency communications manager for the Stockton Fire Department. Nevada beckoned and Brent was the airport communications manager for the Reno-Tahoe International Airport before accepting the appointment at Douglas County.