About
Paul Parker Consulting
There is no greater honor than writing the last chapter of someone’s life story — and no greater responsibility than getting it right.
Paul Parker Consulting is an independent practice built on over 30 years of direct experience inside the institutions most people will never fully understand: Medical Examiner and coroner systems, law enforcement agencies, civilian oversight bodies, and the legislative chambers where death investigation reform is fought for and often lost.
The practice serves families, attorneys, agencies, policymakers, and media representatives and journalists across six areas: Family Navigation Services, Expert Witness and Litigation Support, Training and Education, Policy and Legislative Consulting, Speaking and Media, and Agency and Organizational Consulting. Every engagement is grounded in the same commitment — accurate, thorough, and operationally credible work.
About Paul
Paul Parker has spent over 30 years inside the death investigation system — not as an observer, but as a practitioner, a supervisor, an administrator, and ultimately as the civilian executive charged with holding that system accountable when it failed.
He began his career in law enforcement, working for ten years in the field before an on-duty shooting brought him face to face with his own mortality — and drew him toward a lifelong commitment to understanding how and why people die. That experience is not incidental to his work. It is the foundation of it.
His death investigation career took him through some of the largest and most operationally complex medicolegal systems in the United States. He served as Chief Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner — one of the highest-volume offices in the country — as well as Assistant Coroner in Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas), Director of the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona, and Chief Investigator at Medical Examiner offices in San Diego County and Maricopa County. Across those roles, Paul participated in several thousand on-scene death investigations and conducted hundreds of death notifications.
From 2020 to 2024, Paul served as Executive Officer of the San Diego Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) — the civilian oversight body responsible for independently reviewing deaths that occurred in San Diego County Sheriff’s Department custody or during law enforcement contact. In that role, he led the Board’s investigative staff, managed complex in-custody and law enforcement-involved death reviews, engaged directly with the Sheriff’s Department and County administrators, and appeared regularly before the Board and the public on the most difficult cases the county produced. The CLERB work gave him a perspective that very few people in the field carry: he has been the investigator, the administrator, and the independent reviewer charged with evaluating whether the investigation was done right.
Paul has been an active voice in California and national efforts to reform in-custody death oversight. He is developing a two-tier independent oversight framework for deaths involving public safety agencies, which will be the subject of a forthcoming book. He has engaged directly with California legislative committees and staff on in-custody death legislation, including AB 2257 and SB 519, and provided invited testimony before the California Assembly Public Safety Committee and the California Senate Public Safety Committee on in-custody death investigation reform.
Paul is the author of In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life’s Final Chapter, a memoir at the intersection of death investigation, professional culture, and personal transformation. He is the creator and host of Inside Death Investigation with Paul Parker, a YouTube channel providing long-form public education on the medicolegal death investigation system, and writes regularly on Substack about systemic reform and the public interest in getting death investigation right.
Credentials & Experience Highlights
- Over 30 Years of Operational Experience — medicolegal death investigation across five major U.S. jurisdictions
- Chief Deputy Director — Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner
- Executive Officer (2020–2024) — San Diego Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB); independent oversight of in-custody and law enforcement-involved deaths
- Assistant Coroner — Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas)
- Director — Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office, Arizona
- Chief Investigator — San Diego County and Maricopa County ME/Coroner offices
- Law Enforcement Veteran — ten years, including on-duty shooting
- California Legislative Engagement — invited testimony before the California Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees; AB 2257 and SB 519
- Published Author — In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life’s Final Chapter
- Host — Inside Death Investigation with Paul Parker (YouTube)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you typically work with?
Paul works with four primary groups: families navigating the aftermath of an unexpected, contested, unexplained, or Medical Examiner/Coroner-involved death; attorneys in wrongful death, civil rights, and in-custody death litigation; media representatives and journalists covering death investigation standards, practices, and reform; and agencies or organizations that need consulting, training, or operational guidance on death investigation matters. He also consults with advocacy organizations and legislative staff on death investigation reform and independent oversight policy.
What is Family Navigation Services?
Family Navigation Services is a consulting practice in which Paul serves as a guide for families trying to understand the death investigation system after a loss. He explains the process in plain language, interprets autopsy reports and other official documents, assists with records requests, and helps families understand their rights and options. He is not an attorney and does not provide legal advice. He is not a therapist, grief counselor, or mental health professional. He is a death investigation professional who can tell you what is happening, what it means, and what you can do next.
Do you work with both plaintiff and defense attorneys?
Yes. Paul provides expert witness and litigation support services to both plaintiff and defense counsel. His credibility rests on over 30 years of operational experience and professional independence — not on advocacy for a preferred outcome. Attorneys retain him because they need someone whose analysis holds up under cross-examination, not someone whose conclusions were determined before the work began.
What is your background in in-custody deaths specifically?
In-custody death is a focus of Paul’s career at every level. As a medicolegal investigator he responded to deaths in custody as a core part of the job. As Executive Officer of San Diego’s CLERB from 2020 to 2024, he led the independent civilian review of every death that occurred in Sheriff’s Department custody or during law enforcement contact in San Diego County — managing the investigative staff, reviewing findings, and presenting cases to the Board and the public. He has also provided invited testimony before California legislative committees on in-custody death investigation and oversight reform. He works these cases from every side of the institutional line.
Do you work nationally, or only in California?
Paul works nationally and internationally. He has particular depth in California law, institutions, and legislative context, but consults, testifies, and trains across the country and internationally. Engagements are available in person or remotely depending on the nature of the work.
What does an initial consultation look like?
For families seeking navigation services, an intake consultation runs 60 to 90 minutes and is followed by a written summary and recommended next steps. For attorneys and agencies, Paul offers an initial case or needs review call to determine whether and how he can help. All inquiries are confidential. Contact Paul through the contact page to get started.
Are you available for media appearances and speaking engagements?
Yes. Paul is available for speaking engagements, keynote addresses, conference presentations, and media appearances on medicolegal death investigation, in-custody deaths, death notification, civilian oversight, and legislative reform. He has spoken at national conferences, testified before legislative committees, and appeared in regional and national media. Contact Paul directly to discuss availability and topics.