Public Safety

Ashley Ferris joined LEIC in 2023 as a training specialist. Before coming to LEIC, she was a law enforcement officer with the Lakewood (Colo.) Police Department. Before beginning her career in law enforcement, Ferris served in the United States Army as an intelligence analyst. She is a graduate of Maryville (Tenn.) College.

In her law enforcement career, Ferris held several specialized positions, including field training officer, crisis intervention coach, public information officer, CPR and tactical medical care instructor and others. While with Lakewood, she served as a training and recruiting specialist from 2022 to 2023.

Ferris has received more than 15 awards as a law enforcement officer to include a Purple Heart, American Police Hall of Fame Law Enforcement Officer of the Year 2022, Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Officer of the Year 2022 and Valor Award 2022, and the International Footprint Association Most Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year 2022.

In addition to her role at LEIC as a training specialist, she is currently enrolled in the educational psychology master’s program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

            Keith Groves, Resource Program Manager, joined The University of Tennessee, Institute for Public Service – Center for Industrial Services in March of 2005.  The Center focuses on strengthening manufacturing in Tennessee to secure jobs for the citizens of our state.

            Prior to joining the Center for Industrial Services, Keith worked in retail sales for 11 years and in manufacturing for 16 years.  During the 16 years in manufacturing, he became involved in Lean Manufacturing and has worked extensively in Lean Manufacturing since 1995.  In 2006, Keith worked in the development of a new program for the center called Business Transformation. This is a holistic approach to moving businesses into the future with the tools to increase their ability to compete in a global market and improve profitability.

            In 2011 Lean for Government was a program implemented in State Government to focus on improving processes and to train state employees on Lean Methodologies, Keith has been the core deliverer for this process.

David Moore serves as a Police Management Consultant with the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Assistance Service (MTAS), an agency within UT’s Institute for Public Service.  In this role, David provides assistance to municipalities across the State of Tennessee on all issues involving policing.  He has served with UT MTAS since 2019.

Prior to joining UT MTAS, David spent a career with the City of Martin Tennessee Police Department beginning as a dispatcher in 1989 while attending the University of Tennessee Martin and ultimately retiring as the City of Martin’s Chief of Police in 2015.

In 2015, David transition from a consulting role with Savant Learning Systems to the full time role as Vice President of the Law Enforcement Training Division known as Virtual Academy.  In this role, David was responsible for product design and implementation, marketing and sales, and identifying subject matter experts and development of training to meet the needs of law enforcement across the nation. 

In 2017, David joined the faculty at UT Martin as a lecturer of Criminal Justice in the Department of Behavioral Sciences.  He served in this role until beginning his current role with UT MTAS in January of 2019.

David holds a Bachelor Degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin, a Master of Science Degree from Bethel University, and is a graduate of the 195^th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico Virginia.  David served on the Executive Board of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP) for a decade and is a Past President of the TACP.

David lives in Martin with his wife Lisa.  David has two children, two son’s-in-law, and two grandchildren all living in Martin.

Jeff Stiles joined MTAS in 2024. He previously served as the Leadership Programs Manager of the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership (NCEL). Jeff served the citizens of Knoxville as an officer with the Knoxville Police Department for 28 years, retiring as a Captain. During his career, he served as a patrol officer, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant, police academy instructor, supervisor of the Field Training Program, Organized Crime Unit supervisor, Training Director, and Commander of Tennessee’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. He also served as a member of the Department’s Special Operations Squad (SWAT) for 20 years. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He is also a graduate of the Southeastern Command and Leadership Academy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (Class 256). He completed his Master’s Degree in Business Administration in 2014. For nearly 25 years, Jeff has facilitated and managed training sessions for local, state, and federal government employees, as well as numerous private companies across the nation. In his free time, he enjoys camping and hiking. He is married to Amy and has three children and three grandchildren.