Dan Wilham is a 23 year law enforcement veteran who has spent his entire career with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Raised in Indiana, he moved to California in 1981 while serving in the U.S Military. He attended college in both Riverside and the College of the Desert, majoring in Criminal Justice and Business Management. He joined the Sheriff's Department in 1985 and moved to the Coachella Valley after graduation from the Department's Basic Academy.

Captain Wilham began his career in the Corrections Division as a Deputy Sheriff and would later serve two additional assignments in Corrections as a Sergeant at the Indio Jail and as a lieutenant at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. He has worked a variety of field assignments including patrol as a deputy at the Indio Sheriff's Station and as a Patrol Sergeant at both the Banning and Palm Desert Stations. He also has several years working in various investigative assignments. In 1992 he was promoted to the rank of investigator and assigned to the Sheriff's Special Investigation's Bureau where he worked criminal intelligence and investigated gang activity. As a sergeant and later as a lieutenant, he supervised then managed the Palm Desert Station's Investigations Unit. His most recent assignment has been managing the Sheriff's Central Homicide Bureau.

Captain Wilham has been transferred various times throughout his career to other areas of the county; however, since joining the Department in 1985 he has always lived in the Coachella Valley. He currently lives in La Quinta with his daughter Alexandria who currently attends the College of the Desert.