ANTIOCH — He bears the name of an Indian chieftain, and now Tammany Brooks holds that title in his own right.

The recent swearing-in of Antioch’s new police chief was the fulfillment of a dream he had pursued tenaciously for 21½ years, all the while bucking the odds life had dealt.

Brooks, 46, was born to teenage parents in San Francisco’s high-crime Bayview-Hunters Point district. His mother was white, his father black — and a three-time convicted felon with a history of robberies and crack cocaine.

Against a backdrop of divorce, remarriage and divorce again, Brooks learned early to work hard for whatever money he had in his pocket — first on a paper route, then as a busboy at a pizza parlor — before dropping out of Antioch High School at the start of his junior year to take a full-time job. One day he might be a general manager, perhaps even the owner, of a Round Table Pizza store, he thought as the years slipped by.

But encouragement from his fiancee to pursue a career in law enforcement and an action-packed ride-along with an Antioch cop changed the course of Brooks’ life.

“I had never, ever, ever, ever thought about being a police officer before that moment,” he said. “And I was hooked. Not only was it exciting, but I really saw this as the opportunity to help people.”

Doors appeared closed at first, however. The California Highway Patrol rejected his application because Brooks had multiple speeding tickets on his record. And while he was applying to the Antioch Police Department, a psychologist crushed his hopes by telling Brooks he didn’t “have a chance in hell” against competition from college graduates, military veterans and reserve police officers.

But he got the job anyway, and Brooks took an oath of office on Dec. 11, 1995, three days after graduating from the local police academy.

The rookie patrol officer already had set his sights on the top job and raised eyebrows when the chief asked about his goals.

But education was key to achieving them, so Brooks, by now the father of three sons, began taking night and weekend college classes. After earning a four-year degree, he went on to become only the third officer in the department with a master’s degree.

“He had a mindset,” said Shirley Marchetti of Brooks’ determination, recalling the serious young man she interviewed during his oral boards. “Everything he did was to better himself and be a good solid officer.”

As Brooks climbed the ladder from patrol officer to chief, he has earned respect for his humility and leadership style.

The nameplate on his desk reads “Chief T. Brooks,” a reflection of the friendly informality Brooks welcomes and a nickname that some at City Hall have started using.

Reserved by nature, he’s more at ease when he’s not the center of attention and doesn’t have a Facebook account — a sharp contrast to former Chief Allan Cantando, who often posted playful selfies off duty as a way of interacting with residents.

“He’s not (into) pomp and circumstance. He’s more about, ‘Let’s get the job done and the department will receive the credit,’ ” Cantando said.

The four silver stars on his shirt collar don’t make him more valuable than anyone else in the department, Brooks insists.

“(My role) is no better than a dispatcher, it’s no better than a records technician, it’s no better than the vols that we have here,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I think I’m less important than the officers who are out there … right now in 90-degree heat wearing bulletproof vests and responding to dangerous calls.”

That attitude shapes the way Brooks leads his 98 officers.

“He has an inclusive style. He listens to others, seeks input and puts that all together (to) formulate the best decision that he can,” said former police Chief Mark Moczulski, who promoted Brooks twice.

“He is not a dictator by any stretch of the imagination,” agreed Sgt. Will Dee, president of the Antioch Police Officers Association, which pushed for Brooks’ promotion.

Protecting a city that’s the second largest in the county but has a police force with the lowest ratio of officers to residents poses significant challenges, and Brooks thinks one of the biggest is changing the perception that Antioch is a dangerous place.

Serious crime has been on the decline for the past four years, but numbers don’t reassure the public, he said.

Brooks will be reminding residents to do their part in protecting themselves — not leaving valuables in their vehicles, for example — because the more criminals they thwart, the safer they’ll feel, he says.

He also plans to analyze statistics in a way that will enable the department to use its limited manpower more efficiently; rather than assigning more patrol units to a general area, studying the numbers could help identify specific spots where crimes are more likely to occur and the individuals most apt to commit them.

In addition, Brooks wants to strengthen the relationship between police and the public by having officers discuss their specialized assignments at the department’s quarterly community forums. Residents will have a more complete understanding of agency operations this way and, by sharing concerns directly with employees who are in the field, can help them do a better job, he said.

Although there have been tensions between the department and Antioch’s black community in the past, Brooks — the city’s first black police chief — says there’s now a healthy communication between the two groups. Still, he will continue trying to diversify the department by recruiting at job fairs and advertising in publications that target minorities.

Despite 60-hour workweeks, Brooks doesn’t chug coffee to do regular 5:30 a.m workouts at the gym, and he still finds time to play in a bowling league with his wife.

Now that he’s chief of the only department he wanted to run, he’s not planning on leaving anytime soon, Brooks said.

“This is where my roots are,” he said, noting that many of his relatives live in Antioch. “I’m very passionate about protecting this community. This is where I feel at home.”