Board of Directors
President
Detective Joseph Ruhlin retired from Clearwater Police Department in May 2024 with thirty-one and a half years of Law Enforcement service. With decades of experience, he honed his ability to make quick decisions under high stress and developed an interest in training and motivating new officers. He was a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer Operator and was one of the first operators at the Clearwater Police Department, who founded the program.
He served as a burglary detective, FTO, patrol sex crimes investigator, Intoxilyzer operator, and certified radar operator. He began investigating homicides in 2005 and his strategic investigative planning, organization, and collaboration with the State Attorney contributed to the successful prosecution of many high-profile cases.
Vice President
Retired Detective Robert "Bobby" Miller was a Law Enforcement Officer with 30 years of distinguished service with the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), Miami-Dade County, Florida. He retired honorably on September 30, 2020.
Prior to a career in law enforcement, Detective Miller served 6 years in the United States Marine Corps.
In 1991, after the completion of a nine-month academy, Detective Miller was assigned to uniform patrol at the MDPD Midwest District Station. He was transferred a year later to the Northwest District Station, where he continued to patrol for the next three years.
Treasurer
Sergeant Michael Beaver has 20 years of law enforcement experience. He is originally from Michigan, where he began his law enforcement career working for the Flint Police Department. He moved to Florida, making a long-term home at the Clearwater Police Department within Pinellas County. Sergeant Beaver served as a Field Training Officer and Street Crimes member within the Uniformed Patrol Division. He was selected as a detective for the Robbery Unit in 2016 and later transitioned into the Homicide Unit. In 2022, Beaver was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and is currently assigned to the Homicide Unit.
Secretary
Detective Bertha "B" Durazo was born and raised in Los Angeles. She began her career with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1996. She worked patrol and narcotics before being promoted to the rank of Detective in 2003. At LAPD's 77th Division, her investigative assignments included Crimes Against Persons, Auto Theft, and Robbery. In 2006, she was reassigned to the Major Crimes Division and tasked with terrorism-related investigations.
Director of Medicolegal Death Investigators
Chief Deputy Brett Harding began his career in medicolegal death investigation in 1988 when he joined Florida's District 21 Medical Examiner's Office as a Forensic Investigator. In 1990, he entered the field of organ transplantation, where he received critical care and surgical training. This was followed by a year of clinical research before returning to the medicolegal death investigation in 1997. Mr. Harding successfully became a registered medical death investigator and then one of the first board-certified medical death investigators in the State of Florida. He went on to serve on both the Advisory Council and the Board of Directors for the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. Chief Deputy Harding is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a Fellow of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, and one of only 25 psychological autopsy investigators in the United States.Â
Board Member
Before embarking on his career with the Miami-Dade Police Department, Jeff served honorably in the United States Air Force. During this time, he acted as a Security Police Investigator at Homestead Air Force Base, where he conducted a wide range of investigations.
Detective Jeff Lewis retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department in 2010. His 30-year career was marked by countless commendations and accolades. Prior to his tenure in Homicide, Jeff spent 13 years as a Robbery Investigator, where he acted as lead detective on thousands of armed robbery cases. Jeff was assigned to the Homicide Bureau during the last 14 years of his career, where he assumed responsibility for hundreds of high-profile, complex murder investigations.
Board Member
Detective Thomas "Tommy" Cahalan attended the Brevard County, Florida, Law Enforcement Academy in 2001 after moving to Melbourne, Florida, from his home State of Massachusetts. He began his law enforcement career in 2002 as a Uniformed Patrol Officer for the Melbourne Police Department. After serving his first six years, gaining respect from his peers, and establishing himself through his exemplary work in the Patrol Unit, Tom was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division as an Intelligence Detective, responsible for investigating high-profile criminal targets and violent gang members. Tom was later transferred to the General Crimes Unit, where he investigated hundreds of burglaries, robberies, and property-related crimes.
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BOARD MEMBER
Dave Ross was born in Texas and grew up in Wyoming and Colorado. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after high school and served for over 20 years before retiring to pursue a career in law enforcement. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1996 and retired honorably in 2023 after 26 years of service. With the Los Angeles Police Department, he served tours as a patrol officer, field training officer, and gang officer. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and served as a patrol supervisor. After being selected for the rank of detective in 2009, he worked on a variety of detective assignments before transferring to South Bureau Homicide Division in 2010. As a homicide investigator, he initially worked on fresh cases. In 2013, he volunteered to join the Cold Case Unit and specialized in cold case investigations until his retirement.
Advisory Member
Lieutenant Mark Boudreau has been a member of the Flint Police Department since 2004 and is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigations Bureau, where he oversees the Major Case Unit, SAKI Unit, and Youth Services Bureau. Lieutenant Boudreau was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 2014 and has served as a shift commander in the Patrol Operations Bureau, as well as commanding the Crime Area Target Team (CATT Squad). He also serves as the Flint Police Department's lead crisis negotiator.
Lieutenant Boudreau earned his Bachelor of Arts from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, and is also a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Staff & Command.
Advisory Member
Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA, on July 21, 1956. He moved to Florida with his family when he was 12 years old. Michael decided to become a writer after discovering Raymond Chandler's books while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction, he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat.
Advisory Member
Mr. Hodgman received his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1975 and his law degree from Hastings College of Law in 1978. He joined the District Attorney's Office in November 1978. While serving in different trial and special prosecution units, Mr. Hodgman tried to jury over 140 felony cases, including more than 40 murder cases.
In 1991, he was the lead trial lawyer in the securities fraud prosecution of Charles H. Keating, Jr.Â
Advisory Member
Kelly started in law enforcement with the Wichita Police Department in February 1985. He worked the midnight shift in patrol for almost 11 years. He was then promoted to Detective, where he spent one year in Narcotics, and then was promoted to the Homicide Unit, where he spent 11 years.
He was offered the position of Chief Investigator at the D.A's Office in 2007. He supervises 13 investigators, eight commissioned investigators, and 5 civilians.
Advisory Member
David Rivers retired as a Detective Sergeant in the Metropolitan Dade County Police Department after over 27 years of service, 20 years in the Homicide Bureau. As a lead investigator and supervisor, he assisted in the investigation of several hundred homicides, suicides, and accidental and other death investigations.
On April 11, 1986, he supervised the crime scene portion of the investigation of the largest shootout in the history, to date, of the F.B.I. He and several of the involved agents have given presentations on this incident for 35 years as of 2021.
Advisory Member
Lisa G. Skinner is a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation Supervisory Special Agent. During her 27 years as a Special Agent with the FBI, she served in the following Field Offices: Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Tampa, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Anchorage, Alaska. Her final assignment was as an instructor at the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia.
Ms. Skinner's investigative experience includes Fugitives, Espionage, Foreign Counterintelligence, Domestic Terrorism, and Civil Rights.
Advisory Member
In September 1980, Amoros began his 28-year Law Enforcement career with the New York City Police Department. During his New York City Police career, he worked and supervised three department divisions, including the Patrol Division and the Detective Bureau, and closed out his NYPD career with the Organized Crime Control Bureau. During his last assignment, Amoros worked under the Organized Crime Investigative and Electronic Surveillance division under U.S Attorney Rudolph Giuliani, contributing to several Major Organized Crime family indictments and arrests.
In 1991, upon his retirement from the NYPD - he moved to Central Florida with his family to be close to his parents. In 1996, his Police career continued as he joined forces with the Seminole County Sheriff's office. During his tenure as a full-time / Part time deputy, he was assigned to Patrol duties, the Security division, the Division of Children and Families, and the Special Operations Range and Water unit.
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Advisory Member
Daron Wyatt is a 35+ year law enforcement veteran, having worked for several Southern California law enforcement agencies. His experience includes patrol and detective assignments in gangs, vice, narcotics, domestic violence, and homicide (three tours). Daron was a supervisor for nearly 20 years with assignments in patrol, investigations, and administration. He has a passion for cold case homicide investigations and his cases have been profiled on Dateline and numerous other true crime shows.
For five years Daron was the full-time Public Information Officer for Anaheim PD and Anaheim Fire & Rescue. He is designated as a Master PIO by FEMA, and is a certified Type 1 PIO.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne and a Master of Arts Degree in Behavioral Science from California State University Dominguez Hills. He is also a graduate of the POST Supervisory Leadership Institute.
Advisory Member
Bob Gilmartin is a six-time Emmy Award-winning producer with more than four decades of experience in the news business. Bob retired from Dateline NBC in 2023 after working at the program since its inception in 1992. He was instrumental in Dateline’s development into the premier true crime program on network television. He’s won three national and three local Emmy Awards. He was also an investigative correspondent for the syndicated news program, American Journal.
Bob may have covered more murder cases than many homicide detectives. He has also worked with some of the best investigators in law enforcement, who allowed him to tell their stories in two-hour Dateline reports.
Before Dateline, Bob was an investigative and crime reporter in New York, Miami, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach, Florida. His sources in criminal justice are unmatched in the news business, especially in Florida, where he produced many of his Dateline stories.
Currently, Bob is the executive producer for GILMOPRODUCTIONS, doing freelance videos for a non-profit, and hosts a podcast called Murder in the Sunshine State.
Advisory Member
Christopher DePerno was born in Ithaca, New York. He joined the United States Marine Corps and was recruited into the elite Marine Security Guard Battalion, serving as a bodyguard to American diplomats and providing protection to embassies worldwide. During his deployment, he was assigned to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's detail.
After completing his tour, Mr. DePerno returned to college and earned a degree in Criminal Justice. Concurrently, he was a member of the Army National Guard, where he served as an Intelligence Sergeant specializing in Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare. In this role, he provided commanders with battlefield briefings on the enemy's capabilities regarding the use of such weapons.
Mr. DePerno then joined the Ithaca Police Department and attended the FBI Academy to become a certified instructor and specialist in the use of force continuum. He taught basic criminal investigation at the Broome County Police Academy and gave classes on crimes against children at the Syracuse Police Academy.