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James R. Butterworth is a seasoned fire investigator and internationally
recognized pioneer in the field of accelerant detection canine training
and use.
Mr. Butterworth served with the Connecticut State Police
Department for over twenty-one years before retiring as the Commanding
Officer of the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement of the Office of
State Fire Marshal. During his State Police career, while assigned to
the Bureau of Emergency Services, Canine Unit, he was selected to be one
of the two trainers and handlers of Mattie, a black Labrador retriever
considered to be the world’s first Accelerant Detection Canine. Mr.
Butterworth was assigned to the Office of State Fire Marshal, where he
became Certified as a Fire Investigator. He was later promoted and
supervised the Fire Investigation Unit before being assigned as the
Commanding Officer of the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement.
After his retirement from the State Police, Mr. Butterworth
took a position as a fire and fraud investigator in the Special
Investigation Unit of a large insurance company. The company later
formed a National Fire Investigation Response team of which Mr.
Butterworth became a founding member. While in that position, he
trained two accelerant canines and another canine handler for the
company. He was the handler for the Eastern half of the country.
In 1998, Mr. Butterworth formed his own company specializing
in the training and handling of Accelerant Detection Canines and was
retained as a fire investigation training coordinator for the
Connecticut Office of State Fire Marshal.
Jim joined Acacia Investigations in 1999.
He has received numerous awards and commendations for his work
in the fire investigation field and was a member of the National Fire
Protection Association Technical Committee on Fire Investigation, Canine
Task Group. He is a member of the International Association of Arson
Investigators and has served as a member of the Board of Directors for
the Connecticut Chapter and Chairman of the Training and Education
Committee and Chairman of the Awards Committee. He is also a member of
the Connecticut Association of Auto Theft and Arson Investigators,
Connecticut Fire Marshals Association and the Canine Accelerant
Detection Association.
Mr. Butterworth has lectured and conducted training in fire
investigation throughout the United States for public and private sector
agencies, companies and organizations.
Jim has testified on numerous occasions as an
expert witness in fire origin and cause at depositions and at trial. He
excels as a litigation specialist in fire origin and cause. |
