About PDE

Commander John Burke was with the Cincinnati Police Division for 32 years, working in Patrol for the first ten years, and graduated to a detective position in the Homicide Squad and later into a unit investigating child abuse and sexual assault. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1987, and after a year in Patrol, he was assigned to Internal Affairs. This ultimately led Commander Burke to be placed in charge of the brand-new Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad (PDS), which he helped form and select personnel.

The PDS was considered by many to be the top pharmaceutical diversion unit in the United States. Law enforcement officers from across the country have trained under the guidance of his investigators. The PDS was featured on NBC’s Dateline for its efforts in the pursuit of healthcare professionals involved in the illegal diversion of pharmaceutical drugs from healthcare facilities. The segment highlighted the tremendous success made by the squad in identifying and combating drug diversion in hospitals, nursing homes, and home health care. The PDS was considered by many to be the top pharmaceutical diversion unit in the United States.

In 1999, Commander Burke accepted a position as the Warren County Ohio Drug Task Force Commander. Commander Burke oversaw the Warren County Drug Task Force and the Southwest Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). This task force employed 17 individuals representing federal law enforcement  (FBI, DEA, ATF), state(BCI), Ohio National Guard, and local law enforcement agencies, that came together to pursue mid to upper level drug traffickers throughout the United States when the illegal activity impacted Warren County Ohio. One full time experienced detective pursued the traditional pharmaceutical diversion cases within the jurisdiction.

Commander Burke has participated in and supervised the investigation and prosecution of large-scale drug operations in both state and federal courts. He has given hundreds of presentations that include in person and webinars on the topics involving pharmaceutical diversion. He has been involved in extensive expert witness cases in both state and federal courts that are related to pharmaceutical diversion.

Commander Burke is the Past President of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) and currently the co-founder and Executive Director of the International Health Facility Diversion Association (IHFDA), www.ihfda.org