Don Distefano

About Don Distefano

I am a retired Vallejo California Detective-Sergeant, Marine Corps veteran, licensed private investigator, and public-safety executive with 30+ years of experience in homicide investigation, major crimes, threat assessment, crisis response, and complex case analysis. I currently serve as the Administrative Captain for the Quinnipiac University Department of Public Safety, where I previously served as Director of Investigations. My law-enforcement career spans more than two decades between the Alameda Police Department and the Vallejo Police Department, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. I served as a Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, Narcotics Investigator, Homicide Detective-Sergeant, Hostage Negotiator, and Major-Crimes Investigator. I also served on the Solano County Sex Offender Task Force, the Solano County Officer-Involved Fatal Incident Investigation Team, and co-authored the Solano County Homicide and Suspicious Death Investigative Protocol. I am recognized by the California Commission on POST as a Subject Matter Expert in Homicide Investigation and contributed to the California POST Peace Officer Psychological Screening Manual as a Job Analysis Focus Group SME. Nationally, I serve as a Team ADAM Consultant with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, supporting law-enforcement agencies with cold case review and on-site assistance during critically endangered missing-child investigations. My investigative work has been featured in the HBO docuseries, Murder on Middle Beach (2020) and the Netflix docuseries, This Is the Zodiac Speaking (2024). As founder of Madison Investigative Services, LLC, I specialize in DDS abuse-and-neglect investigations, workplace and Title IX inquiries, internal affairs reviews, missing-person cases, and civil and criminal case evaluations. I hold a BA in Management, a MS in Organizational Leadership, and advanced training through the Contra Costa Criminal Justice Training Center and the Senator Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation (Homicide Specialty). I am also a certified mediator. My work emphasizes factual accuracy, procedural fairness, thorough documentation, and trauma-informed interviewing. Throughout my career, I have earned awards for lifesaving actions, meritorious performance, and investigative excellence. I remain committed to ethical leadership and high-standard investigative practice.

Experience

1. Team Adam Consultant

   National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

   Feb 2019 — Present · Alexandria, VA, US

   Team Adam is a free resource provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® to law enforcement. Named after Adam Walsh, the abducted and murdered son of NCMEC co-founders John and Revé Walsh, Team Adam provides rapid, on-site assistance to law enforcement (LE) agencies and families in critical cases of missing children. Team Adam consultants are retired LE professionals with years of experience at the federal, state and local levels. Consultants deploy to sites where these cases are unfolding to provide on-the-ground technical assistance and connect law enforcement to a national network of resources. The program’s unique access to NCMEC’s resources, coupled with years of law enforcement experience, provides departments with the added tools needed to help address complex, media-intensive cases. Consultants work in full cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. They report to an agency’s command center and determine the needs of the investigating agency. Consultants advise, assist and offer NCMEC’s extensive technological resources including direct access to NCMEC’s case management and case analysis systems, lead analysis and data mining services. Team Adam consultants are also prepared to provide additional assistance to investigators and the victim’s family as appropriate.

Education

• Senator Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation, Sacramento, CA

  Homicide Investigation Specialty

  1995

• Quinnipiac University

  Masters Degree, Organizational Leadership

  2013

• Saint Mary's College of California

  BA, Management

  1996

• Los Medanos College

  POST Basic Academy, Contra Costa Criminal Justice Training Center California, Administration of Justice Program

  1985

Skills

• See Website: Www.mis-Detectives.com
• Criminal Justice
• Protection
• Private Investigations
• Human Resources
• Emergency Management
• Investigation
• Crisis Management
• Police
• Insurance
• Interviews
• Investigative Research
• Customer Service
• Homeland Security
• Firearms
• Enforcement
• Patrol
• Public Speaking
• Internal Investigations
• Surveillance
• Law Enforcement
• Public Safety
• Criminal Law
• Supervisory Skills
• Social Media
• Research
• Criminal Investigations
• Corporate Security
• Interrogation
• Leadership Development
• Background Checks
• Risk Assessment
• Evidence
• Government
• Physical Security
• Policy
• Crime Prevention
• Program Management
• Security Operations
• Computer Forensics