ABOUT

Jesse Santaniello is the owner and operator of Defender Project LLC. Jesse began his law enforcement career in 2010 and has worked numerous assignments to include custody, patrol, field training officer (FTO), crime suppression on the community policing team, and since 2023 Jesse has been investigating special victim’s crimes as a detective. These responsibilities include child exploitation, and human trafficking investigations. Jesse has proactively investigated cases targeting human traffickers, and child predators. Jesse has worked collateral assignments as a task force officer (TFO) with Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), and a federal task force referred to as (Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking) as a cross-sworn TFO.

Jesse has been a firearms instructor for his agency for nearly a decade and has written and taught numerous courses to the officers at his agency. Jesse holds Police Officer Stands and Training (POST) certifications as a firearms instructor, rifle instructor, less lethal instructor, active shooter instructor, use of force instructor, Academy Instructor Certification Course (AICC), and California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) tactical firearms instructor. In his past business he co-wrote and taught the first POST certified Red Dot Instructor course and Conceal Carry Tactics Instructor course, which he taught to nearly a thousand students with his business partner. Jesse shoots USPSA competitions and is an A class in the Carry Optics division. Jesse continues to be a student and attends courses taught by some of the top firearms competitors in the country.

Jesse is dedicated to the advancement of law enforcement officers, military, and law-abiding citizens proficiency with firearms. Additionally, since working human trafficking and exploitation investigations, Jesse is dedicated to providing investigative techniques and information to help others combat traffickers and recover victims.