Board & Directory

Tamara Rabenold, Board Chair
Governor’s Appointee -Expires June 30, 2025
Industry Member
 

Leading a team of investigators, Tamara Rabenold is CEO and owner of Vaudra International, which provides intellectual property investigations and brand protection solutions for global brands, corporations and law firms. 

Transitioning from a marketing background, she entered the investigative profession full-time in 2004, as a Private Investigator Associate (PIA) at Vaudra. After obtaining her full license, she sponsored multiple PIAs as her role evolved within the company. She is active in the Intellectual Property community, volunteering with the International Trademark Association (INTA) & conducting presentations on industry best practices. 

In 2019, she was appointed to this Board by Governor Roy Cooper. Beyond her service on standing committees, she acted as Chair of the Digital Forensics Examination (DFE) Subcommittee, which developed the administrative rules for this new license category. She also represents PPSB as a member of the International Association of Security & Investigative Regulators (IASIR). 

Prior to her appointment, she served on the non-profit North Carolina Association of Private Investigators’ Board of Directors (NCAPI), including a term as President in 2018. Tamara resides in Huntersville, N.C., with her husband, Randy, also a licensed investigator, two Chihuahua-mix rescues, a couple Pygmy goats and a cat.
 

Steve Johnson, Board Vice-Chairperson
Secretary of Public Safety’s Appointee - No expiration
Public Member
 

Steve Johnson is a certified law enforcement officer and criminal justice instructor and has since 2006 worked with the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association as a part-time employee assisting with the coordination of many of the Association’s training programs and special projects, including the Association’s annual conferences and seasonal meetings. 

Prior to joining the staff of the Association, Steve spent 34 years with the North Carolina Department of Justice, with 29 of those years at the North Carolina Justice Academy, where he worked as the lead instructor for all the firearms programs offered by the Academy, including Specialized Firearms Instructor Training, Law Enforcement Sniper Course, Firearms for Female Officers, Armed Security Instructor Training, Concealed Carry Instructor Training and a multitude of armorer courses. 

Steve served in the North Carolina National Guard for 35 years as a range instructor and a member of the N.C. National Guard’s rifle and pistol teams.  

Steve is one of the co-authors of the N.C. Concealed Carry Handgun Training Model Program and is a certified Concealed Carry Handgun instructor. In addition, he previously served (2009-2021) as a member of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, where he was the Association’s president from 2000 to 2016 and is currently the 2nd Vice President.  He continues to teach the Law Enforcement Sniper Course for Durham Technical College as well as other firearms-related programs for Team One Network. His duties as an instructor have taken him around the world to countries including Germany, Italy and China. 
 

Stacy Buff
Senate President Pro Tempore’s Appointee - Expires June 30, 2025
Public Member
 

Ron Burris
Governor’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2026
Public Member
 

Ron Burris is a retired Chief District Court Judge and Resident Superior Court Judge from North Carolina’s 20th Judicial District. He also worked previously as general counsel for Stanly Regional Medical Center. 

Burris remains a practicing attorney in Stanly County, N.C. One client he is proud to be associated with is GHAAS, a nonprofit providing support services for individuals with autism.
 

Debra Duncan, Board Ethics Liaison
Governor’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2026
Public Member
 

Debra Duncan is currently the chief of police and security at High Point University. She began her career as a private detective associate and security guard. She began her law enforcement career as a company police officer and later served with the High Point Police Department 22 years. She was HPPD’s first woman to hold the rank of captain. In addition to her duties at HPPD, she worked part time at High Point University. She was appointed chief of police for Virginia Tech two months before 9/11.  

Debra returned to North Carolina as the police chief for the City of Monroe, where she served for seven years before retiring. She was later elected to Monroe’s City Council, where she was the mayor pro tem for the last two years of her 4-year term.  During that time, she enrolled in law school and served as the interim chief of Johnson C. Smith University.

Debra is a member in good standing of both the N.C. and Arizona State Bars. Debra created a stand-alone police department at Smith College in Massachusetts before returning to High Point to do the same. 
 

Richard Epley
Senate President Pro Tempore’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2027
Public Member
 

Richard Epley, a native of Burke County, N.C., currently serves as the chief of police for Delta Company Police. He has more than 40 years of law enforcement experience and has owned and operated his company police and security guard businesses, Delta Company Police and Delta Protection Agency, respectively, for the last 25 years. 

Epley previously served as Burke County Sheriff before starting his own police and security business. He also currently serves on the N.C. Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission.

Richard is a devoted husband who has been married for 45 years. He has three children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren and enjoys any free time he may have working on his farm and home.
 

Jerry Pitman
Speaker of the House’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2025
Industry Member
 

Jerry D. Pitman has served on the Private Protective Services Board since 2018 and is a licensed private investigator, security guard and patrol company operator, and he holds a close personal protection endorsement. He is the owner Pitman Security Services and J.D. Pitman Detective Agency, LLC. 

Prior to entering the private protective services industry, Jerry served for 30 years with the Winston-Salem Police Department, where he retired at the rank of lieutenant. Pitman also served in the U.S. Air Force from 1970 to 1974, where he worked as a policeman and achieved the rank of staff sergeant.  

Jerry was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor Pat McCrory in 2014. He also previously served on the National Council of Investigators and Security Services’ Board of Directors from 2014 to 2016, and as a registered lobbyist of the N.C. Association of Private Investigators. 
 

Andy Renfrow
Speaker of the House’s Appointee -Expires July 1, 2027
Industry Member
 

Dave Stephens
Senate President Pro Tempore’s Appointee -Expires June 30, 2025
Industry Member
 

Dave is a private investigator and senior consultant with the US ISS Agency, LLC. (ISS), a private investigation firm in Huntersville, N.C. He has been a licensed PI in North Carolina since 2010. His expertise is in personnel investigations, especially governmental and police internal investigations. Dave retired after 30 years of service with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, retiring as the deputy chief of the 1,200-officer Field Services Division. 

Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He completed the Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston, and the Administrative Officer’s Management Program at N.C. State University.  He has also served as a board member of the North Carolina and the National Association of Internal Affairs Investigators.
 

Suzanne Creech
Speaker of the House’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2026
Industry Member
 

Candace Ratliff
Governor’s Appointee – Expires July 1, 2026
Industry Member

 

David Poston
Governor's Appointee - Expires July 1, 2027
Industry Member

David Poston is a retired Senior Chief Petty Officer with 20 years of experience in national security and foreign intelligence through the National Security Agency and Naval Security Group, where he supported global operations critical to U.S. interests. He transitioned to a 24-year law enforcement career across Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, serving in patrol, narcotics, special response, and as a polygraphist as well as background investigator.

David has been licensed as a North Carolina private investigator since 2017, specializing in criminal defense, particularly first-degree murder cases. In 2018, he became a licensed polygraph examiner, focusing on pre-trial testing, employee theft, espionage, sabotage, pre-employment screenings for government and armed security agencies, and family advocacy. He is the founder of Truth Verification, LLC, which provides a comprehensive range of investigative and polygraph services tailored to these areas. In his spare time, David volunteers with Parents Against Bulling and Injustice, NC, Inc., and Clifford’s Army Rescue Extravaganza (C.A.R.E.), a dog rescue operating throughout North Carolina and beyond.