Lieutenant Brian Sanders moved to Douglas County in 1985. Prior to moving here, he traveled around the world with his family in the military. Brian's father was a career soldier in the Army for 27 years. Brian graduated from Wurzburg High School in Germany while his father was stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany. In 1986, Brian joined the Army and was a M-1 Tank Crewman stationed at Fort Hood, Texas for 3 years. After completing his tour in the Army, Brian returned to Douglas County where his family resided. In 1989, Brian was hired by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

During his tenure, Brian has served as a patrol deputy in the South County and Roseburg Offices and a Street Crimes Unit Investigator before being promoted to Sergeant in 1998. He also served as the Operations Sergeant on the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team (DINT). Brian has been an active member on the Sheriff's Office Tactical Response Team (TRT) for more than 16 years. While he was on the team he was an entry person, sniper, and assistant team leader. Brian has been in charge of the department's firearms program for the last 15 years. In June of 2006, Brian was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to run the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Patrol Division.

Brian holds an Executive Certificate from the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). He has attended several leadership, firearms, and SWAT schools during his career. Some of the schools he has attended are the FBI SWAT School, the advanced FBI Sniper School, the Oregon State Sheriff's Office Command College, and several Major Crimes Conferences, to name a few.