Expertise & Credentials

CitaForce Group's principals bring operational experience across public safety, criminal investigation, emergency management, and enterprise technology. This page outlines what that background actually looks like.

Most security consultants come from a corporate security background. Most IT consultants come from a managed services background. James Singleton comes from a decade in the field — investigating arson cases, directing emergency operations, working crime scenes alongside Harris County investigators, and then pivoting into technology leadership for a public safety organization. That is an unusual combination, and it is the foundation that makes CitaForce's dual-discipline approach credible rather than superficial.

The credentials below are not decorative. Each one represents a tested training standard, a real examination, or a peer recognition from a professional community with meaningful requirements. They are listed here so clients know what they are actually getting when they hire CitaForce.

James Singleton — Principal

Law Enforcement & Public Safety

  • Licensed Texas Peace Officer — TCOLE Advanced Certification
  • Commissioned fire investigator and inspector, State of Texas
  • Over 2,100 hours of training in law enforcement patrol and investigations
  • Over 3,450 hours of total tested training in public safety
  • Criminal investigation, interviewing witnesses and suspects
  • Evidence collection, chain of custody, and documentation
  • Latent print processing
  • Courtroom testimony preparation and expert witness preparation
  • Digital forensics and property & evidence management

Fire Investigation Credentials

  • Certified Fire Investigator (CFI) — International Association of Arson Investigators, December 2015
  • Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator (CFEI) — National Association of Fire Investigators, October 2015
  • Advanced Arson Investigator — Texas Commission on Fire Protection, November 2016
  • Forensic Fire Death Investigator — Texas A&M TEEX Forensic Science Academy, December 2016
  • Major Crimes Investigator Certification — TEEX, April 2014
  • Forensic Investigator I — TEEX, April 2013
  • Forensic Technician — TEEX, September 2012

Fire & Emergency Services

  • Fire Officer II — Harris County Fire Marshal's Office
  • Fire Officer I — Lone Star College
  • Instructor II — Harris County Fire Marshal
  • Instructor I — FAST Training Consultants
  • HazMat Technician — Lone Star College
  • EMT-Basic — Lone Star College
  • USFA All Hazard Incident Management (ICS)
  • Fire Prevention Codes & Inspection

Technology Leadership

  • Currently serving as IT Director for a public safety organization, responsible for the full technology stack: networks, endpoints, cybersecurity, systems, strategy, and vendor relationships
  • Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune, Power Platform (Apps, Automate, BI), and SharePoint administration
  • Network infrastructure design, firewall management, VLAN architecture, wireless deployment
  • Designed and operate a five-node virtualization cluster (Proxmox) running dozens of production services with high-availability failover and a documented disaster-recovery model
  • Deployed an enterprise SIEM (Wazuh) across ~149 endpoints with centralized syslog for FortiGate, Dell, and Cisco infrastructure and custom detection rules
  • Implemented automated IT asset and license management (Snipe-IT) with SAML SSO — ~246 assets and Microsoft/Adobe/Canva licensing reconciled nightly to feed budget planning
  • Led a FortiGate hardening pass and stood up automated, NetBox-sourced configuration backups for the switching and routing fabric
  • Managed $1.2M divisional technology budget; identified $30,000/year in vendor waste through telecom audit
  • Designed barcode evidence management system reducing annual inventory manhours by 88%
  • Built Python automation for statistical reporting — cut late reports by 90%+
  • Led 100-unit body-worn camera deployment; fully funded through county capital appropriations, delivered on schedule
  • Implemented enterprise DocuSign and JotForm/API integration for field-accessible digital workflows
  • Staffed and managed a technology function of 29 personnel (4 direct, 25 indirect); mentored 6 to advancement

Technology & Security Certifications

  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner — Amazon Web Services, November 2023
  • Google Cybersecurity Certificate — November 2023
  • Level 4 CJIS Security Certification

Government & Municipal Experience

  • Currently serving as an elected Mayor of a Houston-area municipality — municipal budget oversight ($31M), infrastructure, public policy, and council governance
  • Former Harris County Fire Marshal's Office — Lieutenant/Investigator; supervised a five-person investigative team
  • Inherited investigative division 40% understaffed; redesigned job postings and sourcing strategy — increased viable applications 500%, filled all openings, reduced vacancy rate to 3%
  • Grew third-party certification rate from near zero to 50%+ of staff within 4 years through mentorship and training partnerships
  • Over 1,000 career investigations (majority fraud); received IAAI Jack Sneed Award for outstanding arson case work
  • Former Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office (Montgomery County, TX)
  • Former municipal police patrol officer
  • Former city Fire Marshal
  • Texas Fire Marshal's Association — Legislative Committee Co-Chairman
  • IAAI Texas Chapter — Legislative Committee Member

Emergency Management & Deployments

  • Winter Weather Event, Harris County TX, 2014 — EOC Liaison
  • Wildfire, Montgomery County TX, 2011 — Logistics Officer
  • Hurricane Ike, Houston area, 2008 — Patrol Officer
  • Hurricane Rita, Cypress Creek EMS, 2005 — Communications Officer
  • All Hazard Incident Management training (USFA)
  • ICS-aligned command and logistics experience

Recognition & Awards

2016
Jack Sneed Award — IAAI Texas Chapter
Awarded for exceptional arson case work in Harris County
2016
Life Saving Award — Harris County Fire Marshal's Office
Awarded for rescuing a drowning victim at Towne Lake
2016
Team Commendation — Harris County Fire Marshal's Office
2015
Best Accidental Fire Photography — IAAI Texas Chapter
2013
Community War on Terrorism Award
2013
Letters of Commendation (multiple) — Harris County Fire Marshal's Office

Professional Affiliations

Credentials you can actually verify.

We are happy to provide license numbers, certification documentation, and insurance certificates during the contracting process. No black boxes.

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