Ventura County District Attorney Chief Investigator Scott Whitney spent the opening day of this week's statewide law enforcement conference on a panel with four other bureau chiefs, sharing lessons from his agency's front-line work on everything from elder fraud to cold cases. The session came as the California District Attorney Investigators' Association held its 2026 Annual Training Conference in Universal City, drawing hundreds of prosecutors and sworn investigators from across the state.
The conference, running from Sunday through Thursday under the theme “Advancing Justice,” is co-hosted with the California District Attorneys Association and is projected to draw between 500 and 600 prosecutors and investigators statewide, according to the California District Attorney Investigators' Association. Programming is split across two adjacent properties, with general sessions and joint meals at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City and CDAIA's investigator-specific breakout tracks housed at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, per the association.
Whitney appeared on the opening-day “Leadership Track: Bureau Chiefs Panel Discussion and Breakout,” alongside fellow bureau chiefs Tony Lee, Natasha Crawford, Kristina Perkins, and Jorge Duran, according to the conference agenda. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office said on Facebook that Whitney shared his experience and insight alongside other law enforcement leaders during the session, part of a broader event that brings together law enforcement professionals from across California.
A Curriculum Built for Modern Crime
Beyond the leadership track, this year's educational sessions cover a wide swath of criminal justice territory, from a case study on the historical Night Stalker serial murder investigation presented by retired homicide detective Gil Carrillo to cold case DNA techniques, cryptocurrency “pig butchering” scams, digital evidence collection, and cartel-related kidnappings, according to the conference agenda. The mix reflects how sworn DA investigators are increasingly asked to master both decades-old cold cases and fast-moving digital fraud schemes within the same career.
That range of duties is not incidental. Under California Penal Code § 830.1(a), sworn investigators and inspectors employed in district attorney offices are designated peace officers with statewide law enforcement authority, meaning they can execute search warrants and make arrests across county lines rather than being confined to civil-side casework. The state also requires newly appointed DA investigators to complete a mandatory 40-hour District Attorney Investigator Transition Course under Procedure D-14 within their first year on the job, per the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
Whitney's Path From Oxnard's Top Cop to County Investigations
Whitney took the helm of Ventura County's DA Bureau of Investigation in September 2022 after a 30-year career with the Oxnard Police Department, where he served as police chief from 2016 to 2020 and also as interim city manager, according to Vida Newspaper. As of this month, the bureau he leads employs 60 sworn investigators serving under District Attorney Erik Nasarenko, per the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The conference's crypto fraud sessions land close to home for Whitney's team. Earlier this month, Whitney issued a public warning about elder financial abuse following a bureau investigation that led to felony charges against a Simi Valley man accused of stealing nearly $100,000 in cryptocurrency from an 89-year-old resident, as reported by FOX 11 Los Angeles. Hoodline previously reported on that Thousand Oaks fraud case just days before this week's conference began.
Seven Decades of Honoring Investigators
CDAIA was founded in 1956 with Joe McClure as its inaugural president, and the association still annually presents the Joe McClure Investigator of the Year Award along with a Prosecutor of the Year Award to recognize standout law enforcement service statewide, according to the association's awards page. Beyond the panels and case studies, the association describes its mission as providing training, leadership development, and networking opportunities linking district attorneys' offices across California, a mandate the Universal City gathering was built to advance this week.
