Our Instructors

Daniel Ortiz

Daniel Ortiz is a 25-year law enforcement veteran and Detective with a large municipal police department in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut area. Throughout his career, he has developed extensive investigative experience in major crimes, including homicide investigations, property crimes, firearms and gun-trafficking cases, crimes against children, child death investigations, sexual assault, human trafficking, missing persons, digital evidence, and technology-facilitated child exploitation.

Daniel has spent more than a decade on investigative assignments, including eight years assigned to a Special Investigations Unit investigating complex crimes involving children and other vulnerable victims. His experience includes serving as both a lead and assisting detective in child death investigations and working closely with the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and its investigators. These investigations provided him with firsthand experience in scene assessment, caregiver interviews, investigative coordination, case reconstruction, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the unique challenges associated with sudden and unexpected child deaths.

Throughout his career, Daniel has participated in complex local, state, and federal investigations and has worked closely with federal law enforcement partners including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and United States Secret Service. His investigative experience has included multi-jurisdictional firearms and trafficking investigations, major crimes, child exploitation investigations, and cases requiring extensive coordination between local and federal agencies.

Daniel is also a digital forensic examiner with the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations, a regional computer forensics laboratory supporting multiple law enforcement agencies and is a member of the Connecticut Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. His digital forensic experience includes mobile-device examinations, cloud-based evidence, application data, location information, electronic evidence preservation, digital timelines, and the integration of digital evidence into complex criminal investigations.

He has completed extensive specialized training in mobile and digital forensics throughout his career. His recent advanced training includes Call Detail Records Analysis and Drone Forensics through the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) in Hoover, Alabama. NCFI is a U.S. Secret Service-partnered facility and is recognized as the nation’s premier law enforcement training facility for cyber and electronic-crime forensics. Its programs train law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges in digital evidence, cyber investigations, and forensic examination techniques.

Daniel has also developed significant experience as an instructor and national presenter. He has taught law enforcement professionals on topics including investigative techniques, mobile-device investigations, digital evidence, device seizure and preservation, crimes against children, online grooming, sextortion, and the use of digital evidence in major criminal investigations. He has presented at nationally recognized conferences, including the Dallas Crimes Against Children Conference and the Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference.

In addition to his investigative and instructional responsibilities, Daniel serves on the Child Protection Advisory Committee (CPAC) with the National Child Protection Task Force (NCPTF) and is a Board Member with Protecting the Guardian, an organization focused on first responder mental health, wellness, resilience, and suicide prevention.

Daniel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England College. He has also completed advanced leadership and law enforcement training throughout his career.

As an instructor with Pinnacle TCI, LLC, Daniel brings decades of investigative and digital forensic experience into the classroom. His teaching philosophy emphasizes practical investigative skills, sound decision-making, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the use of real-world case studies to make complex investigative concepts understandable and immediately applicable to law enforcement professionals.