Bio:

• Detective Sergeant with plainclothes Investigations Unit, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
• 38 years with Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
• in 2001 was appointed to the NWCG’s Wildland Fire Investigation Working Team, based out the USA, as one of two Canadian representatives
  • mandate of this group is to develop wildfire investigation training that is standard throughout North America
• has instructed and provided presentations on wildfire investigation and forensic interviewing at workshops and conferences throughout Canada, in the USA and Australia
• writes regular column in the Western Canadian Game Warden magazine, titled “You & the Law”
• was awarded ‘Officer of the Year’ in 2012 by Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment

Class: Interviewing is a core function of the investigative process, and the goal of any interview should be to obtain accurate, voluntary, reliable and complete information from the subject, whether they are a complainant, a witness, an informant, and agent or suspect. This presentation will deal with the latest trends and case law relating to forensic interview in Canada, keying in on specific techniques when dealing with wildland arson cases. There will be specific references to case studies in Canada.

Bio: Constable Chris SMITH, member of the RCMP for 10 years. For the last 5 years, Cst. SMITH has been part of the General Investigation Section North, Serious Crimes Branch, Edmonton, Alberta. Cst. SMITH was the team commander for the Mayerthorpe Serial Arson Investigation. Cst. SMITH has a degree in Forestry with a background/experience in wildfire investigations stemming from private, government and law enforcement agencies.

Class: In April of 2016, Mayerthorpe RCMP detachment was hit with a number of vegetation arson investigations.  The fires were believed to be linked and a serial arson investigation was started after the CN Trestle Bridge was destroyed by fire. The bridge loss exceeded two million dollars, and millions more each day in lost commerce as it was part of the only major railway in the region. As the fires continued and the town of Mayerthorpe became uneasy, more RCMP resources were deployed and a command triangle was setup for the investigation. A suspect, Lawson SCHALM was arrested at the scene of the last fire and subsequently confessed and charged with 18 counts of arson. SCHALM plead guilty in March of 2017.

Bio:

Class: Chief Engel will present a detailed analysis of a series involving a wild land arsonist named Zane Peterson who set at least 7 arson fires near Redding, California in the fall of 2013. His largest act of arson was the deadly Clover Fire, which was started on September 9, 2013, which burned over 8,000 acres and resulted in the death of a person. The class will have a strong focus on surveillance techniques, the use of static surveillance in the form of game and pole cameras, and the use of an electronic tracking.

Bio: Detective Ed Nordskog is a full time arson/bomb investigator and profiler for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department since 1997. He has investigated over 2,100 arson cases, over 60 fire death scenes, and been personally involved in 57 serial arson investigations. He has testified as an expert in fire scene/arson investigation on over 85 occasions. He has personally arrested and interviewed over 300 persons charged with arson or fraud related to arson. He is a former IAAI “Investigator of the Year” and IASIU “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” for his work in the arson investigation field. He is an active instructor for the State of California POST in the subjects of “Arson and Explosion Investigation” and “Homicide Investigation-Fire Deaths”. He has a Master’s Degree from Cal State University-Long Beach and is the author of the books “Torchered Minds-Case histories of notorious serial arsonists”; “Fireraisers, Freaks and Fiends-Obsessive arsonists in the California foothills”; and his latest, “The Arsonist Profiles”.

Class: Serial Arson Pattern Analysis Det. Nordskog will present a class on the practical use of pattern and target analysis when tracking a serial arson suspect. This class will discuss old “myths” about pattern analysis and focus on the “why” of when a suspect forms a pattern. The goal is not to predict where he will light his next fire, but to forensically link the suspect to all of his past fires by the analysis of his travel patterns and his targets of choice.

Class: Political Pressure and High Profile Cases: The Corral Fire Investigation Det. Nordskog will present two case studies of high profile cases that came with a lot of political pressure behind them. The first is the devastating “Corral Fire” in Malibu, in November of 2007. This short but intense firestorm burned 53 structures and caused $100 million in damages. The two month long follow up investigation identified nearly a dozen suspects, all pointing the blame at each other for the fire. This class highlights the intense investigative follow up needed to validate stories, and find the correct persons responsible for the act.

A second case study looks at a fire department employee who was accused of recklessly starting the 500 acre “Old Fire” in Calabassas in 2016. This fire has a very unique beginning. Both of these investigations were impacted by political pressures.

Bio: Mr. Woolf is a recently retired Special Agent for the United States Forest Service. He has over 23 years of dedicated service and experience in the wildland fire suppression, prescribed fire, and investigation arena.  Formerly a Special Agent with the United States Forest Service, Mr. Woolf performed as his agency's National Wildland Fire Investigation Specialist, Incident Commander of their Wildland Fire Investigation Team, and served as the Co-Chair on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group's (NWCG) Wildland Fire Investigation Committee.     Lucas Woolf can be contacted at: woolf@wildlandfireinvestigation .com (928) 245-7770

Class: Mr. Woolf will provide a refresher class in wild land fire scene investigation based on the latest updates to the FI-210. He will intersperse his training with references to recent case studies.

Bio:

Class:

Bio: Det. Davidson has worked for the Los Angeles Sheriff's since 2001. For the past three years he has been assigned to Major Crimes Bureau, Career Criminal section where he specializes in surveillance operations of Major Offenders. His Surveillance and Apprehension Team is a full time unit of undercover surveillance operators tasked with locating, following, documenting, and apprehending major crimes violators. Included in this list of offenders is murderers, serial rapists, prison gang leaders, serial arsonists, and kidnappers. Prior to being hired as a Sheriff's Deputy, Det. Davidson worked as an insurance fraud investigator specializing in locating and the surveillance of fraudulent claimants. Det. Davidson has planned, conducted and managed over 1,000 surveillance operations and is a regular instructor on surveillance techniques for other detectives.

Class: Det. Davidson will present a class on the realistic and complete spectrum of modern day surveillance. The goal is to leave the student with knowledge of all current techniques, equipment, and legal issues. There will also be an emphasis on the proper set up and contingency planning involved in real life operations. All of this training will be based on recent, real life cases. The student will learn how to conduct a legal, efficient, productive, and safe surveillance operation.