A.J. Benefield is a Senior Associate and Investigative Operations Advisor with Toddington International Inc, bringing more than 25 years of policing experience across operational leadership, complex investigations, organized crime, critical-incident response, and major case management.
During a distinguished career with the Vancouver Police Department, A.J. served in senior operational and supervisory roles, including Inspector, Duty Officer, Staff Sergeant, and Sergeant. These appointments involved leading multidisciplinary teams, coordinating specialized responses to high-risk incidents, advising executive leadership, managing operational resources, and strengthening communication between investigative and frontline divisions.
A.J. is a primary instructor for TII’s Critical Thinking courses. Her background in psychology, investigative interviewing, evidence assessment, risk evaluation, and operational decision-making enables her to connect critical-thinking principles with realistic professional challenges. Drawing on decades of frontline and leadership experience, she helps participants recognize assumptions and cognitive bias, evaluate information more rigorously, consider alternative explanations, and make sound decisions in complex, high-pressure environments.
Her investigative experience encompasses robbery, kidnapping, assault, arson, organized crime, undercover operations, surveillance, forensic interviewing, and search-warrant preparation. From 2011 to 2016, A.J. served with British Columbia’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit as a senior investigator on complex organized-crime investigations.
Internationally, A.J. served as Team Leader and Lead Investigator with the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials in Cambodia. In this role, she led field teams investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, conducted more than 150 witness and victim interviews, and directed evidence-gathering missions in challenging operational environments.
A.J. also brings significant experience in mental-health policing and inter-agency collaboration, having supervised specialized programs delivered in partnership with health-care, housing, and community organizations. This combination of instructional ability, investigative expertise, operational leadership, and international field experience supports TII’s education, advisory, and investigative capabilities.
A.J. holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Simon Fraser University and speaks fluent Spanish and conversational French.
