Published: November 2004
In the nine months since Kathleen M. (Horton) O’Toole ’76 was named Boston’s first woman police commissioner in February 2004, she has experienced a labor dispute with the police, a dramatic rise in homicides, security for the Democratic National Convention, and the Red Sox postseason. O’Toole began her career in 1979 as a Boston police officer. Previously, she held posts as the state’s secretary of public safety, the founder of an international security and crisis management consulting firm, and on a panel that recommended reforms for the Northern Ireland police force. The former political science major was also executive director of BC’s Alumni Association from 1998 to 1999.
- Official announcement, from the City of Boston
- A profile, from Irish America
- O’Toole, “tough, competitive, and brainy,” is hired for the top post, from Christian Science Monitor
- Interview and video with O’Toole, on WCVB-TV
- Three women (two of whom are BC grads) head the Commonwealth’s most powerful law enforcement institutions, from Boston Globe Magazine
