Our Experts
Arson & Bombing Behavioral Analysis, LLC is built on decades of hands-on investigative experience and peer-reviewed research. Our experts are qualified and accepted in federal and state courts across the country.
Kevin L. Kelm, Ph.D.
Founder & Principal Analyst
Background
Kevin L. Kelm, Ph.D., is a subject matter expert in arson and explosion investigations and criminal investigative analysis (profiling). He retired in 2011 as a Supervisory Special Agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Dr. Kelm was a criminal profiler at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), providing expert analysis and consultation on violent crimes, with a focus on arson, bombing, weapons of mass destruction, and counterterrorism. His expertise includes fire and explosives investigations, criminal investigative analysis, homicide, and other violent crimes, bomb threats, premises liability, deterrence of offenders, crime scene assessment, profiling unidentified offenders, staged crimes, suicide and self-harm by fire or explosives, interviewing and interrogation, signature behavior, and crime linkage analysis.
Dr. Kelm is a criminologist holding a doctorate in criminal justice. He is a subject matter expert in the Risk Assistance Network and Exchange (RANE). He holds a Research Fellowship from Texas State University, Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Research, and is the author of a textbook on criminal investigative analysis (criminal profiling).
Dr. Kelm has testified as an expert witness in state courts in Wisconsin, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Oregon, and California. He has testified as an expert witness in the federal courts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and California, and internationally in the Supreme Court of Canada.
Credentials & Qualifications
- BS – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- MS – Virginia Commonwealth University
- PhD – Northcentral University
- Fellow – International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship
- Research Fellow – Texas State University, Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Research
- Certified Fire Investigator – International Association of Arson Investigators, Inc. #25-073 (Retired)
- Certified Explosives Specialist – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (Retired)
- Practical Blasting Fundamentals – International Society of Explosives Engineers
- Certificate – Firefighter 1 – Milwaukee Safety Academy – Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 1995
- International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship (ICIAF)
- International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI)
- International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI)
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS)
- Lecturer – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, Milwaukee, WI
- Instructor – National American University, Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security, Rapid City, SD
- Faculty – Criminal Justice, Daymar College, Bowling Green, KY
- Visiting Lecturer – Marymount University, Arlington, VA
- Visiting Lecturer – Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY
- Senior Police Instructor – U.S. Department of State, Narcotics Assistance Section, Bilateral Implementation Office (Merida Initiative), Policía Federal, Mexico City, Mexico
- Instructor – ATF National Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, GA
- Instructor – Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, GA
- Instructor – FBI National Academy, Quantico, VA
- Instructor – National Center for Explosives Training and Research, Redstone Arsenal, AL
- Instructor – National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC)
- Instructor – International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship (ICIAF)
- Visiting Instructor – National College of District Attorneys
- Visiting Instructor – Canadian Police College, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Instructor – International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), Gabarone, Botswana
- Instructor – International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), Bangkok, Thailand
- Instructor – Department of Defense, Joint Task Force Paladin, International Security Assistance Force, Kandahar, Afghanistan
Vickie D. Kelm
Co-Founder & Principal Member
Background
Vickie Kelm is a majority member and founder of Arson & Bombing Behavioral Analysis, LLC. Ms. Kelm retired from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) after 28 years of government service. Her experience with ATF includes service as an Investigative Assistant in the Des Moines, IA Field Office until she transferred to ATF Internal Affairs at ATF Headquarters in Washington, DC. She was promoted as a Management Analyst in the Training Directorate where she served until she received another promotion to the Explosives Study Group.
Ms. Kelm participated in various research programs as an Intelligence Research Specialist in the Explosives Study Group including the Explosives Taggant Study and the Dipole Might large vehicle bomb study conducted at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Dipole Might was an ATF sponsored series of controlled vehicular explosions that provided for the first comprehensive, scientific analysis of large-scale (50 - 5,000 pounds) vehicle bombs.
Following completion of the Dipole Might studies, Ms. Kelm was promoted to the position of Program Analyst in ATF's Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information (OSII) where she was assigned to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) program. She managed various ballistics intelligence programs as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR), supervising the activities of over twenty-five Ballistics Intelligence Analysts contracted by ATF.
Vickie Kelm is a Certified Federal Acquisitions Contracting Officers Technical Representative. She held a Top Secret security clearance throughout her government service. Ms. Kelm completed the Anacapa Sciences training program for Intelligence Analysis.
Credentials & Qualifications
- Certified Federal Acquisitions Contracting Officers Technical Representative
- Anacapa Sciences – Intelligence Analysis Training Program