Melissa Maranville is the Founder/CEO of DeVille and Associates, a public safety training agency located in Knoxville, TN, where she has been researching and developing law enforcement education and training content focusing on topics such as human and sex trafficking, and cryptocurrency and the dark web.
Melissa comes with over 25 years’ law enforcement experience in educating, training, development, presenting, and lecturing.
Melissa is experienced in crime scene investigation and time-since-death, as well as a former criminal justice and criminology college professor. In 2000, Melissa assisted in training and educating the FBI’s Evidence Response Team in crime scene collection of human remains at the University of Tennessee’s Forensic Anthropological Research Facility, the Body Farm. It is here where Melissa began her career path and passion of becoming an expert on human/sex trafficking and sex crimes working alongside Dr. Bill Bass.
Since then, Melissa has become an avid speaker and trainer for police academies, educating on human and sex trafficking and how to identify trafficking during routine traffic stops and investigations. On several occasions, Melissa was invited to speak and present at the Department of Homeland Security’s training division in Emmitsburg, Maryland on Mass Fatalities and Counter Terrorism; as well as the College of Forensic Psychology on expert witness courtroom testimony regarding Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, in San Diego, California. In addition, Melissa has completed training at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, The University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and The University of North Carolina.
During Melissa’s college professor days, she researched, developed and taught many courses in criminal justice, criminology, victimology, mass fatalities, terrorism, and organized crime. It was during this time that Melissa developed a passion for understanding the criminal mind focusing on organized crimes that fund terrorism, such as human and sex trafficking. In understanding the Future of the Criminal Mind, Melissa began developing content and training programs in Cryptocurrency and the Dark Web for an INTERPOL training initiative, including webinars with the first of its kind to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Melissa is currently a PhD candidate in Cognitive Psychology at Grand Canyon University, where her research and dissertation has focused on sex crimes and sex offenders in relation to recidivism rates looking at the United States’ sex offender registration program and how to educate law enforcement agencies on reducing repeat offending. Melissa also holds a master’s degree in Public Health and Safety from the University of Tennessee focusing on mass fatalities and terrorism.
Lastly, Melissa holds many recognitions, including Psi Chi National Honorary Society, Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, Recognition of research on “Violence Against Women in the South” from Spellman College, Nominated for Distinguished Faculty Member for five consecutive years, and a Letter of Commendation from Knox County Sheriff’s Dept. Knoxville, Tennessee for dedicated work on sex offender cases in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.
