BLUELINE TRAINING GROUP - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Captain
• Special Agent in Charge - Criminal Investigative Profiler of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division 's Behavioral Science Unit

Michael Prodan is the Special Agent in Charge - Criminal Investigative Profiler of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Behavioral Science Unit. He has served with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division - Behavioral Science Unit since 1998. Prior, he was with the Covina, California, Police Department and the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation. From 1990 to 1998 Capt. Prodan was the Special Agent Supervisor of California DOJ's Violent Crime Profiling Unit. He has 39 years of law enforcement experience, with over 28 years of investigating violent crime. He has qualified as an expert witness in violent crime scene analysis and criminal sexual behavior in State Courts in Alaska, California, Oregon, South Carolina, Georgia and Texas, and in threat assessment in North and South Carolina and US District Court in South Carolina. Capt. Prodan is one of only 34 graduates worldwide of the FBI's Police Fellowship in Criminal Investigative Profiling and Crime Scene Analysis at the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. He has also attended training with the United States Secret Service at their National Threat Assessment Center in Washington, DC. He is currently a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and has investigated, assessed and managed over 800 threatening and inappropriate communications to elected and government officials, media personalities and citizens. He is an adjunct instructor at both the South and North Carolina Criminal Justice Training Centers and ITT-Technical Institute School of Criminal Justice in Columbia, SC. Capt. Prodan has been both a course designer and instructor for the California Commission of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Institute of Criminal Investigation and is a member of the Law Enforcement Instructors Alliance. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University ‑ Long Beach and is a graduate of the University of Southern California's Delinquency Control Institute.

Job Titles:

• Captain

Captain Morrison is a native of Pennsylvania and later moved to Clearwater, Florida where he began his career of public service. In 1989, Captain Morrison served as a Corrections Officer for Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. In 1994, he served as a Law Enforcement Officer for Kenneth City Police Department in Florida. As he continued his career in Law Enforcement, Captain Morrison joined the Roanoke Police Department. During his 19-year tenure at the Roanoke Police Department, Captain Morrison has assumed many responsibilities in the department. As a Patrol Officer, he was assigned to Warrant Service, Community Oriented Policing Effort (C.O.P.E.) Unit, Accreditation, and Organized Crime. 2006 he was promoted to Sergeant where he was a platoon supervisor and Assistant Director for the Training Academy. In 2007, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. As a Lieutenant, he was responsible for the operations Warrant Services, Street Crimes, Power Shift, and Crime Prevention. He was also assigned to the Office of the Patrol Captain as the Executive Officer. In 2008, he was assigned as the Academy Director, in which he was instrumental in the Academy becoming Nationally Accredited, and becoming the second independent police academy in the country to earn this distinction. In 2012 he was assigned to the Northwest Zone Four Commander. As a part of his daily crime reduction efforts, he utilizes geographic and hot spot policing strategies which include Predictive and Intelligent-Led-Policing along with effective crime analysis techniques. Captain Morrison was responsible for the successful implementation and management of Roanoke's second Drug Market Intervention Program in 2012. In 2013 his continued success led him to be the Roanoke Police Departments' spokesman for National Drug Policy at the White House. In January 2014, Captain Morrison was one of two Commanders to supervise a newly formed Community Response Team. This thirty man team was responsible for fast deployment of assets and resources to deter and prevent crime. The unit is driven by crime data and analysis. In February 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. As Captain, he was responsible for overseeing the Criminal Investigations bureau, Records Unit, and the Police training academy. Captain Morrison currently supervises the Community Response Team and continues to work closely with community leaders. Captain Rick Morrison attended the first annual Law Enforcement Leadership Seminar sponsored by the FBI National Academy (FBINA); he is also a 2012 graduate of The 31st Professional Executive Leadership School, completed the FBI-LEEDA Executive Development Association course. He holds several specialized certifications that include General Instructor for the Department of Criminal Justice Services, Crime Prevention Specialist, and Homeland Security Instructor. He also instructs Law Enforcement Courses for Benchmark Professional Seminars, and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. He is currently perusing a Degree in Criminal Justice at Liberty University. Captain Morrison currently resides in Roanoke, Virginia. He is married to Janet and the proud father of a son, Nathan, and two stepdaughters Lindsey and Lauren.

Job Titles:

• Master

Master David L. Mitchell began his martial arts training as a twelve-year-old in Salisbury, NC. After receiving his black belt at the age of 19, he moved to Brownsville, Texas later that year, he introduced the martial art of Chang Moo Kwan, to the Rio Grande Valley. This was the first time martial arts, of any style, had been taught in this region of America. In 1971, he began teaching at Texas Southmost College, now a branch of the University of Texas. In 1973, Master Mitchell enrolled at the University of Houston to obtain his Bachelors of Science degree in Elementary Education. Along with obtaining his education, a major reason for his relocation to Houston was to meet and train with a renowned martial artist and educator, Grandmaster Kim PyungSoo. Grandmaster Kim accepted Mr. Mitchell in his school as a Black Belt, as they had both originally studied in the Chang Moo Kwan system previously. For the next seven years, Mr. Mitchell trained hard; directly under the leadership of Grandmaster Kim. In 1981 Master Mitchell returned home to North Carolina and obtained a Master's Degree in Education from Catawba College in Salisbury N.C. and in 1984, became an adjunct professor at Catawba College teaching ChayonRyu martial arts/self-defense to the college students. On December 4, 1993, Grandmaster Kim promoted Mr. Mitchell to the level of Master, fifth Dan Black Belt. Master Mitchell received his 8th Dan Black Belt in June 2011 in Korea and later that year, Master Mitchell began teaching members of the Salisbury Police Department's Police Interdiction Team (PIT) in unarmed self-defense, knife defense, and firearm defense techniques. Over the past twenty-three years, Master Mitchell has educated over 750 students, 25 Black Belt students, including two Masters, a specialized police unit, and other police officers in various basic and advanced martial arts techniques.

Job Titles:

• Deputy Director Western Campus / North Carolina Justice Academy

Don retired as Deputy Director Western Campus, North Carolina Justice Academy, and was formerly manager of the Investigations Center of the North Carolina Justice Academy. Don has law enforcement experience in rural and municipal law enforcement agencies and instructional areas including Interviewing, Detecting Deception, Rapport Building, Interrogation, Persuasion, Audit-Related Interviewing, Investigations, and Investigative Discourse Analysis. For over a period of 35 years, his interviewing instruction and investigative assistance has been provided to related professionals in 46 U.S States as well as Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Belgium, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Trinidad, Barbados, Singapore, Ireland, and England. In addition, he has provided training to Federal, State, and Local Criminal Justice Personnel, NATO Counterintelligence Personnel as well as private sector investigative and corporate security personnel. Participants in his trainings have included the Legal Division; North Carolina Department of Justice, the United States Secret Service, The North Carolina District Attorneys' Association, The North Carolina District Court Judges' Association, the Law Enforcement Communication Center, and the Behavioral Science Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at Quantico, VA, the US Army C.I.D., The Central Intelligence Agency, The SEC, USDA, Banking Administrators, Auditors, and Investigators, IBM, The Coca-Cola Company, Probation and Parole, Housing Authority Investigators, Insurance and Banking Fraud Investigators, Defendant Investigators, Assessment and Admissions Personnel, Substance Abuse Counselors, the Dallas Texas Investigative Division, Real Estate related professionals, the California Highway Patrol, the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector and the Illinois State Police and American Airlines. Don has his A.A.S. in Criminal Justice, from Davidson County Community College and a B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration, from East Tennessee State University. He has performed advanced studies at Eastern Kentucky University and has military experience with the US Army. He is a published author of 4 texts: Interviewing and Interrogation 2nd edition; Investigative Discourse Analysis 2nd Edition; Persuasive Interviewing; Fraud Related Interviewing and is editor of the interviewing focused newsletter, Hamlet's Mind.

Job Titles:

• Instructor

Chad served from 1992-1996 in the 1st Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne Division) at Ft. Bragg, NC. Chad served in an airborne rifle company during this time and held positions as a rifleman, grenadier, platoon radio operator, and company armorer. In 1996, Chad was hired by the Pitt County Sheriff's Office in Greenville, NC. He has served as a detention officer, transport officer, patrol deputy, domestic violence deputy, domestic violence detective, major crimes detective, and sergeant of the professional standards unit. Chad is currently assigned as the detective sergeant of the Criminal Investigations Unit. Chad has worked many different types of criminal cases against persons such as physical assaults, sexual assaults, robberies, and homicides. Chad has also conducted many complex property crime investigations, specifically financial and identity theft crimes that resulted in federal prosecutions. Those cases were conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. While assigned as the sergeant in professional standards, Chad spent 3 years conducting background investigations of applicants and coordinating the expansion of a detention facility by over fifty new positions. Chad started formally training in 2002 by teaching in-service training and basic law enforcement academy classes in domestic violence. He now regularly teaches in-service training classes for his agency as well as surrounding ones. Chad is also currently an adjunct instructor in the A.A.S. in criminal justice program, the basic law enforcement training academy, and the detention officer certification course at Pitt Community College. Chad routinely teaches classes specific to criminal investigations, interview and interrogation, criminal law, legal update, use of force, firearms training, defensive tactics, civil process, first-line supervision, use of force report writing, domestic violence, ID theft and fraud, communication skills, traffic stops, patrol techniques, and simulation training. He can custom design classes from these topics to agency-specific guidelines. Chad obtained a B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration, Summa cum Laude, from Mount Olive College in 2004 as well as a graduate certificate in Security Studies from East Carolina University in 2006. In May of 2009, Chad obtained an M.S. in Criminal Justice from East Carolina University. He has obtained the Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate from the North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission. Chad has also completed the Criminal Investigator's Certificate Program and the Instructor Development Program at the North Carolina Justice Academy. Chad is a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), the International Homicide Investigator's Association, and the North Carolina Homicide Investigator's Association. He is also a member of Pitt Greenville FOP Lodge #69 and the Pitt County Law Enforcement Officer's Association.

Job Titles:

• Instructor
• North Carolina Certified General Instructor
• Special Agent With the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation

Jennifer Matherly is a Special Agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Jennifer currently works out of the Northeastern District Office located in Greenville, North Carolina, and works major case felonies in twenty-three counties. Jennifer is a graduate of East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work. After graduating, Jennifer spent the next five years as a Child Protective Services Investigator, first with the Wilson County Department of Social Services and then with the Orange County Department of Social Services. During her time with Orange County, Jennifer specialized in the investigation of sexual abuse in child care facilities. In 1999, Jennifer accepted a position with the Division of Child Development as a Child Abuse/Neglect Consultant focusing on investigating child abuse and neglect in child care facilities. In 2005, Jennifer was hired by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation as a non-sworn Criminal Specialist in their Training Section. Jennifer was responsible for the development, coordination, and instruction of training for SBI Agents in the area of child sexual abuse investigations. After completing the SBI Special Agent Academy in 2008, Jennifer became a general criminal agent, where she is considered to be a content expert in the area of child sexual abuse investigations. Jennifer is a North Carolina certified General Instructor and currently instructs in BLET and other specialized courses related to children's issues throughout North Carolina.

Job Titles:

• Executive Vice President for the BlueLine Training Group LLC
• Member of the International Homicide Investigators Association
• NCIS Special Agent - in - Charge ( Retired )

Joey (Joe) D. Kennedy is the Executive Vice President for the BlueLine Training Group LLC. Joe retired as the Special Agent-in-Charge for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Carolinas Field Office in 2014. He attended the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA, and subsequently served in various offices around the world including, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico, Japan, Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Washington, DC. Joe is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Pfeiffer College, Misenheimer, NC where he played baseball for legendary coach Joseph Ferebee. He received a Master of Policy Management degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Joe participated in Executive Education at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. While with NCIS, Joe served in a variety of positions focusing on violent crimes and undercover operations. He was the Team Leader for the Virgin Islands Homicide Task Force. He participated as a member and supervisor in numerous homicide task forces and serial rape investigations. He served as a board member for the Department of Justice "Weed and Seed" Task Force in Charleston, SC and the North Carolina Homicide Investigators Association. Joe served as an Executive Board Member for the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force in the Caribbean and Territorial Crime Commission for the Governor of Puerto Rico. He was co-chair for the North Carolina Criminal Justice Information Network (CJIN) LiNX program and has served on several law enforcement advisory boards. Joe was the Primary Architect and First Program Manager for the internationally acclaimed NCIS Cold Case Homicide Unit. He wrote the methodology and protocol for NCIS Cold Case investigations, which has been adopted by numerous police agencies around the globe. Joe has provided cold case homicide consultation and training to various law enforcement agencies throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and the Caribbean. He is a Consulting Committee Member of the American Investigative Society of Cold Cases (AISOCC) and Founder of the Carolinas Cold Case Coalition. He is recognized as an International Cold Case Expert. Joe completed multiple deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. He twice served as the Resident Agent-In-Charge for NCIS Resident Agency Fallujah, Iraq. Joe was the Director for the Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Counterintelligence Unit (JCIU), International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), Kabul, Afghanistan. He was the Chief of the Transnational Crimes Unit at the Middle East Field Office, Manama, Bahrain, where he collaborated with the International Police (INTERPOL) and NATO to develop proactive law enforcement strategies designed to combat Somali Piracy and narcotics smuggling in the Indian Ocean and Gulf Region. Joe is a member of the International Homicide Investigators Association, North Carolina Homicide Investigators Association, North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, and Eastern Carolina Association of Law Enforcement Executives. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations. Joe received the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award from North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in 2014 and he was recently profiled in the book "Delayed Justice: Inside Stories from America's Best Cold Case Investigators" by Mary Bransom. He was featured in the "Real NCIS" by StoryHouse Productions, Washington, DC. He is a Core Team Expert for the Starz TV "Wrong Man" Series. Joe serves as an expert witness for police investigative procedures and homicide investigations throughout the United States.

John Lanier began working for the Salisbury Police Department in 1990 as a patrol officer and worked patrol for several years and was a member of the Special Response Team for 13 years until he was promoted to Sergeant in 2007. Sgt. Lanier worked as a patrol sergeant for several years before being assigned as the Vice/Narcotics Sergeant where he supervised both plain-clothed, undercover narcotics officers as well as uniformed interdiction officers and the department's Gang Unit. Sgt. Lanier was selected to lead a newly formed Street Crimes Unit that was created by the Chief of Police where he worked with and supervised 7 other highly motivated officers to combat serious street crime issues that involved drug and weapon cases, gang activity, and serious/violent crimes such as robberies and violent assaults. It was in this capacity that Sgt Lanier began his marital arts training, specifically in the area of weapon defense, with Master David Mitchell. The Street Crimes Unit received weekly by training Master Mitchell in gun and knife defense, unarmed self-defense, and other training that enhanced the team's abilities and confidence. Sgt. Lanier was promoted to Lieutenant in 2013 and was assigned as a night shift patrol commander supervising a team of 10 police officers where he began training his patrol team in the defensive tactics he learned while on the Street Crimes Unit. Lt. Lanier retired from the Salisbury Police Department in December 2013 after 25 years of service. John has earned the Advanced Law Enforcement Certification from the N.C. Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission. He is a certified North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Instructor and has a specialized certification as a Physical Fitness Instructor. John currently holds a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and will complete his Master's Degree in Criminal Justice in December of 2014. John also currently holds a brown belt in ChayonRyu Martial Arts and has taught, along with Master Mitchell, numerous law enforcement officers in defensive tactics. John is currently the Law Enforcement Training Coordinator at Stanly Community College in Albemarle N.C.

Job Titles:

• Assistant Special Agent in Charge

Heath McBride is an Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Northwestern District. He attended the 30th SBI Special Agent Academy at the North Carolina Justice Academy in Salemburg, North Carolina. Prior to becoming an ASAC he was assigned as a Criminal Agent, Clandestine Lab response team, Special Response Team, and Crime Scene Search Specialist. McBride teaches in the Basic Law Enforcement Training program at Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) and is the Director of the Program. He also teaches in the Criminal Justice Technology Program at CVCC. In addition to teaching at CVCC, McBride teaches at the SBI academy and SBI in-service courses. In 2012, McBride was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award at CVCC. In 2011 McBride was awarded the Northwestern District Agent of the Year. On three occasions McBride has presented cases to the North Carolina Homicide Investigators Association conferences. He started his law enforcement career in a non-sworn position at the Appalachian State University Police Department. McBride was a patrol officer with the Hickory Police Department and a Sergeant with the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. He has an Associate's Degree in Science from Lees-McRae College and a Bachelor's of Science in Criminal Justice from Appalachian State University. McBride has additional graduate studies from Appalachian State University. ASAC McBride has investigated corruption cases, drug and meth labs, sexual assaults, law enforcement officer use of force, and police shootings. Additionally, ASAC McBride has investigated numerous homicides as the investigating agent and as the crime scene search specialist. Notable cases include the Zahra Baker homicide, Tzeo quadruple homicide, and the Hickory serial killer homicides.

Growing up, Tracy was afforded the distinct advantage of living in and among as well as experiencing the various cultures in over four continents. This, in turn, more than prepared him for the mindset that would be necessary to adapt and survive in the environment that he has dedicated his life to. Tracy C. Sparshott served 24 years with the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department. During this time, he served with multiple departments, including, but not limited to, Uniform Patrol, Decentralized SWAT, Special Assignment Team, Narcotics, and the K-9 Unit. He has been deputized as a U.S. Marshal and assisted in special assignments with the FBI, DEA, IRS, and Customs. In the early 1990's, while still with the police department, he began teaching part-time. After retiring in l999, he was able to focus his energy to a full-time teaching career while still providing surveillance and undercover operations for a number of organizations. In the course of his extensive police career and his involvement with undercover operations, his travels have taken him along the entire east coast and parts of the west coast. His teaching credentials include Law Enforcement Academies throughout the United States, including all branches of the U.S. Military, NEOA, and International Chiefs of Police. For these reasons, Tracy is recognized as an expert in the fields of Undercover Narcotic Investigations and Drug Interdiction by District, Circuit, and U.S. Federal Courts. He has also provided training to National Police Forces from several countries abroad for the U.S. State Department, which includes Saudi Arabia, France, and Canada. Tracy has been the guest speaker at Narcotic Conferences in, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Idaho, Utah, and North Dakota. In 2004, Tracy was the guest speaker for the Scandinavian Narcotic Conference in Oslo, Norway where he spoke to over 400 international investigators. Tracy is one of the primary Drug Instructor for the Gulf Coast region High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). He has been an honorarium at several major universities and has served as Co-Chairman for the Council of Governments Subcommittee on Narcotics. Since his retirement from the police department, Tracy has performed extensive undercover and surveillance work throughout the United States, Bosnia, Spain, and Peru for various non-government agencies. Currently, Tracy and his family reside in North Carolina. where he spends time volunteering with the Brunswick County Sheriff Department During his career with Montgomery County, Tracy was involved in a yearlong drug investigation between Washington, D.C., and Florida. Both the FBI and IRS were brought into the case because of the amount of money, property, and statewide issues involved. Tracy Sparshott is featured in the non-fiction book entitled "Trust Me" by Richard Rashke which depicts this case. "Trust Me" can be found at www.trustme-narco.com or Amazon.com