ROD AMMON: And welcome to this podcast for the International Association of Arson Investigators. Today, we’re going to have a brief interview with investigator of the year, Jeff Pride. Jeff just recently won investigator of the year at the ITC conference at the Rio in Las Vegas. Well, the first thing I guess we should do is just thank Jeff for being with us, and Jeff, why don’t you just tell us the story.

JEFF PRIDE: I’m assigned as an arson investigator in Central and Southern Illinois with the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office. In late 2008, I began a series of fire investigations in Cumberland County, Illinois. Throughout the course of these investigations, it was proven to be that most of the fires were determined to be incendiary or intentionally-set fires. The fires originally started out with old barns, vacant houses of that nature, and then led to vacant and some occupied houses within residential neighborhoods of Cumberland County.

During the course of these investigations, I was a part of approximately 23 cases, which were determined to be incendiary fires. During the course of the investigation, I was able to put together some information and evidence that led me to two possible suspects. Those suspects just happened to be members of a volunteer fire department in Cumberland County. Throughout the investigations, I conducted several interviews with these individuals along with other witnesses, but was never really able to get enough information to present a case to the state’s attorney for prosecution. In late 2012 and into early 2013, we had some breaks in the case where we obtained warrants for GPS tracking devices to be put on our suspects’ vehicles, also some video surveillance equipment that was placed in certain locations around Greenup, Cumberland County, and by use of those devices, we were able to collect further evidence to bring our two suspects back in for additional interviews.

Our primary suspect who was a volunteer fireman in Cumberland County initially confessed to a couple of the fires, and throughout the course of further interviews, ended up confessing to a total of 26 incendiary fires that he was a part of. Also, in his confessions, he implicated his partner as being part of those intentionally-set fires as well. As a result of that, we took both suspects to prosecution. Charges were filed. A total of 69 counts were filed against these two individuals. Since then, the cases have concluded in late December of this last year, 2013, and the result of the investigation was that the primary suspect received a total of 22 years imprisonment, and the secondary suspect received a total of eight years imprisonment for these various fires that they had confessed to.

ROD AMMON: Congratulations on a successful prospection, Jeff. So, talk a little bit about the frustrations with a case like this. What are some of the things you’ve learned?

JEFF PRIDE: Well, the biggest frustration of all was I really suspected these two individuals as being involved early on, but being able to collect enough information and evidence to move the case forward for prosecution was difficult in the beginning. There were also some hurdles dealing with other agencies, trying to coordinate information between agencies, trying to make sure information stayed classified throughout the course of the investigation. Once we were able to coordinate between all the agencies involved, we were able to move forward, and as I mentioned previously, collect enough information to present to the state’s attorney for prosecution.

ROD AMMON: It seems like it’s always a challenge to know how to handle the flow of information. Can you tell us how you handled things with this investigation? It went on for a long time.

JEFF PRIDE: One of the biggest lessons that I learned is that, if coordinated in the proper manner, allowing other agencies and other people to assist you, branching out for help basically from other people and other investigators and other agencies where we could come together as one collaboration and put a case together that was solid that we could present to the state’s attorney.

ROD AMMON: Was there a task force?

JEFF PRIDE: The task force was our - not really present in the areas where I work, so most of the time, I’m on my own as far as investigations go. Sometimes I can call in other investigators from my agency for assistance. I had one particular investigator from my agency that I called on a regular basis and discussed these cases with, and it’s - this particular investigator was not close to me distance wise, but was always a phone call away, and I discussed the cases with him. He is an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office as well. His name is Kenny Arnold, and we discussed these cases at great length. So, just being able to share information and ask questions with other investigators was a great benefit in these cases.

ROD AMMON: We communicate with an audience that covers many types of cities and states. Even though you didn’t have a task force, could you talk about your unique situation, and what can you share with us that was unusual about this case?

JEFF PRIDE: As I mentioned, there are not a lot of investigation task forces in my area, but one of the biggest lessons that I learned throughout this whole thing is when you need help, make sure you ask for it. Don’t assume that because you play a certain role or you’re responsible for a certain role that you cannot ask for assistance. There are many other agencies out there that offer different types of assistance. For example, the Illinois State Police was greatly involved in these investigations beginning in late 2012 and into 2013.

Illinois State Police Special Agent Tim Brown was assigned to the case, who I worked with closely, and he provided great assistance in the interview phase of the investigation. So, one of the biggest lessons that I learned was you could be the best investigator in the world, but there’s always someone that can shed something new, can always teach you something that you possibly didn’t know. So, the more eyes that are involved and the more agencies that are involved and professionals that are involved, there’s always an aspect that can be added to your investigation.

ROD AMMON: This was a pretty tough case. What kept you going, Jeff?

JEFF PRIDE: A big part of my motivation push came from other investigators. The investigator that I mentioned earlier, Kenny Arnold, was someone I was in constant contact over the course of this entire investigation, other investigators telling you you’re doing a good job; keep going; you need to do this or you need to do that. Also, having a state’s attorney or prosecutor who is willing to get involved in your investigation, not just from a prosecutorial standpoint, but from a citizen who lives in that county, and when Jonathan Braden, the state’s attorney in this county, got elected and became involved with these cases, he was there.

He was - he came out at night. He was watching my investigations, asking questions, and when you see that kind of support from the state’s attorney and from other investigators, people are relying on you to provide a service. They’re relying on you to figure out what is going on with these situations in their hometown. They’re relying on you to try to solve this particular problem. So, that’s kind of the motivation that kind of kept me going, that I knew I was close and it was just a matter of if I can just get that one last piece of information or one last piece of evidence, I think I can push it over the top, and it was just a matter of the small pieces here and there falling into place until it finally just took hold.

ROD AMMON: Anything that you’d like to add?

JEFF PRIDE: The biggest thing is throughout the course of this, I received great cooperation from my agency, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, from my division manager, Chris Valentine, so I’m very grateful to them.

ROD AMMON: Well, thanks very much and congratulations again on becoming the IAAI investigator of the year. For the International Association of Arson Investigators and CFITrainer.Net, I’m Rod Ammon.