Brandon Burley

From the field to the classroom.

Brandon Burley is a U.S. Marine Corps infantry veteran who served in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He later served in law enforcement in patrol, as a K9 instructor, and as a detective investigating narcotics and violent crime — and developed and established an intelligence unit within his agency.

Today, Burley teaches criminal justice in Knoxville, Tennessee, and travels nationally speaking on criminal justice, investigations, intelligence, ethics, evidence verification, and decision-making. He holds a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, a graduate certificate in International Law from UCLouvain, and a Master of Public Administration, with additional graduate and professional training focused on intelligence-led practices.

He is the author of Exploring Criminal Justice and Basics of Ethics and Theory, and the founder of the award-winning podcast The Redemption Project — a media and civic-education platform that tells stories of redemption, explains complex public systems in plain language, and brings citizens, public officials, experts, and community leaders together for substantive civic conversations.