Rick Eley
President and Chief Investigator. Founded ISC in 1988 after more than a decade leading fire investigations across the Mid-South.
Career
Rick Eley formed Investigative Services Companies in 1988, after more than ten and a half years with INS Investigations Bureau, Inc. For the last eight of those years he served as Office Manager and Chief Special Agent, supervising fire investigators in Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
He began his investigative career in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Williamson County Sheriff's Department, working closely with state and federal authorities on fires in that jurisdiction. In 1976 he was recruited by the Tennessee Arson and Bomb Investigation Section and placed in charge of its Memphis branch.
He has attended over 4,000 hours of training in criminal and arson investigation and has investigated more than 6,500 structure and vehicle fires. He has qualified as an expert witness in fire causation in state, local and federal courts in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Kentucky, and conducts fire, bomb and explosion investigations for insurance companies throughout the United States.
Education
Rick has attended the National Fire Training Academy, the Arkansas Fire Training Academy, the Tennessee Fire Training Academy, the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama, and Shelby State Community College, majoring in police science. He is completing a Bachelor's degree in Fire Science Technology at Memphis State University.
Teaching
He is a Certified Law Enforcement Instructor for the State of Arkansas, and a Certified Fire Instructor through the Arkansas Fire Training Academy, the Tennessee Fire Training Academy, the Tennessee State Board of Regents and the National Fire Academy.
He has instructed at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms field training seminars, and teaches regularly at the Tennessee and Arkansas Fire Training Academies, the Mississippi State Fire Marshal's Office, the Tennessee and Arkansas chapters of the IAAI, police and fire departments, and insurance companies. He has taught fire and arson investigation part-time at Shelby State Community College, and now teaches for military investigative agencies, including Special Agents of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Andrews Air Force Base.
Rick has written numerous articles on fire and arson investigation, interviewing techniques and records research. In 1993 he published two books on fire and arson investigation covering the methods used in both criminal and civil investigations.
Law enforcement service
Since 1986 he has served as a part-time officer with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, including as Commander of the Special Operations Task Force, Commander of the Metro DUI Squad, and Executive Officer of the Detective Crime Scene Analysis Unit. He holds the rank of Chief Inspector and has supervised the Detective Crime Scene Analysis Unit.
Leadership and recognition
Rick is past president of the Tennessee Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators, where he chairs the Education Committee, co-chairs the Ethics and Professional Fire Investigators Certification committees, and edited the chapter newsletter for ten years.
He has been part of the Tennessee Claims Association, Memphis Chapter, for more than 25 years, serving as its president in 2000 and 2001 and as Fire Committee Chairman for ten years. He was elected to the TCA state board and served as its president, and received the Memphis Chapter's Ernest Crawford Achievement Award. In 1983 the Jaycees named him an Outstanding Young Man of America.
Memberships and licenses
- Tennessee Association of Fire Instructors
- Fraternal Order of Police
- West Tennessee Criminal Investigators Association
- Memphis Criminal Investigators Association
- Arkansas Advisory Committee on Arson
- Tennessee Advisory Committee on Arson
- Tennessee Claims Association
- Mississippi Claims Association
- National Association of Fire Investigators
- National Fire Protection Association
- International Association of Fire Chiefs
- International Association of Arson Investigators
Licensed private investigator in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri. He lives in Bartlett, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis.