WHO IS GARY KELLY?
Gary B. Kelly is a 33-year veteran of the New York State Police, and spent 25 years of his career assigned to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). He was adept at conducting interviews and effectuating thorough, highly successful investigations. Gary focused his career in the area of special victims. Gary completed thousands of hours of specialized training, including a seven-day FETI course (Forensic Experiential Trauma Interviewing), an interviewing methodology related to the neurobiology of trauma and memory. During his career with the State Police, Gary was relied upon as the subject matter expert in the fields of child abuse and sexual assault investigation, and in law enforcement response and investigation of interpersonal violence on college campuses. Gary is immensely passionate about his lifetime career, and through his knowledge and experience he shares that passion in his consultation services with G Kelly Blue Line Consulting.
For more than 2 decades, Gary Kelly has created curriculum, established training programs, and has been a certified police instructor. He has instructed law enforcement recruits, investigators and police leadership, college and university campus safety, TIX investigators, prosecutors, law guardians, social service and advocacy professionals, and students (see Portfolio for Curriculum Vitae). Gary was a staff instructor for a child forensic interviewing program for 9 years, and continues to instruct on that methodology to social service, law enforcement, and advocacy professionals. In addition to directly training thousands of criminal justice and social service professionals, Gary also organized and implemented 20 training seminars, including 3 international homicide seminars, successfully effectuating training of 3000 more criminal justice and social service professionals.
Gary’s most recent assignment was to establish and oversee, from the ground up, a specialized and exclusive sexual assault unit of the New York State Police: the Campus Sexual Assault Victims Unit (CSAVU). Gary managed CSAVU’s highly progressive and effective operation from inception in 2015 until his retirement in May 2019. The New York State Police CSAVU is a specialized unit of trained senior investigators tasked with responding to reports of interpersonal violence on college campuses and within campus communities, and providing assistance to colleges and universities across New York State. Gary Kelly and the work of CSAVU has received statewide and national recognition. With extensive knowledge of Article 129B, Clery, TIX, and the criminal laws of New York State, Gary oversaw CSAVU’s response and investigation of more than 200 reports of campus interpersonal violence. He also provided direct assistance to campus community professionals.
Prior to and simultaneous with that assignment, Gary held the position of the statewide AMBER Alert Coordinator for New York State (for 10+ years). Along with overseeing CSAVU, Gary also managed the staff and work of the New York State Police Special Victims Unit (SVU). In that capacity, Gary oversaw the development and implementation of law enforcement training in the fields of child abuse, trauma informed sexual assault response and investigation, elder abuse, and the state’s AMBER Alert program. As the State’s AMBER Alert Coordinator, he managed the AMBER Alert Program and chaired the AMBER Alert Committee. Gary was responsible for reviewing activation requests in child abduction cases across New York State, determining if criteria were met for activation, and for activating the State’s AMBER Alert system for cases that fit the criteria. Gary activated New York State’s AMBER Alert system in 60 child abduction cases involving 72 children, including cross border and international cases.
During his tenure as a field investigator, Gary conducted investigations of child abuse, sexual assault, homicide, and other felony offenses. He spent four years assigned to a Major Crimes Homicide Unit, and in that unit, he participated in the investigation of numerous homicides, sexual assaults, and cold cases. Gary was assigned as the state police lead investigator for the Porco Homicide case in 2004, and worked directly with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, contributing significantly to the successful prosecution of that circumstantial case involving the murder of a prominent law clerk of the NYS Supreme Court. The case was the subject of a Lifetime Television production, and part of a series on the Discovery channel. Gary provides a fascinating, and highly informative presentation on the 18 month investigation and 7 week trial.
Gary has also served on numerous task forces and committees, including the New York State Children’s Justice Task Force, the NYS AMBER Alert Committee, the NYS Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, and other advisory groups related to issues pertaining to special victims. He holds a Masters Degree from the State University of New York at Albany School of Criminal Justice, and has spent his police career in fostering multi-disciplinary relationships advancing justice for victims.