John Madigan was appointed Standards and Compliance/Strategic Planning Manager for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in 2008.  He heads the Division of Inspectional Services for the Office of the Sheriff.  He oversees a team of sworn auditors for the department, examining all department functions for performance and adherence to department guidelines using "best practices" within the public safety profession.

Madigan joined the department as a Legal Advisor in 2001.  He advised the Sheriff and the Executive team on a variety of legal issues in all department functions.  He assisted Internal Affairs on a wide variety of investigations, both criminal and administrative.  He represented the department in court actions, defended police personnel records from disclosure, and represented the Sheriff in civil service disciplinary proceedings.

Prior to joining the department, he served over two decades as Captain for the San Diego Police Department.  He was assigned to various units including field patrol, SWAT, Training Academy, Investigations, Gangs/Narcotics, Internal Affairs, and the Chief's Office.  He received over 70 departmental citations/commendations from life saving to exceptional performance for his role in incidents including the “PSA” air crash, SWAT Team leader of the “McDonalds Massacre”, and the investigation of the “stolen military tank incident”. He is known nationally for his work in Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving, Strategic Planning, and Police Civil Liability.

Madigan began his law enforcement career as an El Cajon Police Cadet in 1973.  He then became a Grossmont College Campus Police Officer while attending college.

Madigan is an adjunct law professor at several different colleges in San Diego.  He is currently an instructor at the Regional Law Enforcement Training Center in areas of criminal justice, laws of arrest, use of force, evidence, search and seizure, criminal law, leadership, and ethics.  He is a Judge Pro Term for the Inter-Tribal Court of Southern California and hears civil cases for Native-Americans on reservation lands.  He is the Sheriff's representative for the 18 Native-American Governments in San Diego County.

Madigan is a Certified Litigation Professional in Public Employment Litigation.  He also attended the International Police Executive Officers Course in Melbourne Australia at Monash University.

Mr. Madigan received a Juris Doctor from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 1991. He passed the California State Bar Exam in 1992. As a law student, he was on the dean's list, clerked for the San Diego City Attorney's Office and was a judicial extern for the Fourth District Court of Appeals. He graduated in the top 20% of his class.