Karen O’Connor is has worked in the field of criminal investigations for over 25 years. She began as a Public Defender Investigator for the State of Connecticut, Judicial Branch in 1990 and became a Connecticut State Trooper in 1994. After retiring as a Sergeant in February of 2020, she became the Executive Director of The Network Against Domestic Abuse located in Enfield, CT. The Network is a non-profit advocacy agency which provides free domestic violence advocacy, counseling and shelter services to the North Central Connecticut region. She is currently a POSTC certified polygraph examiner and continues to teach in the areas of Criminal Investigations, Interview and Interrogation and Domestic Violence to law enforcement officers. Karen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminal Justice, from Central Connecticut State University. She also attained a Master’s Degree in Forensic Science Advanced Investigation from the University of New Haven. She graduated from the National Polygraph Academy in Columbus, Ohio in 2014.
Karen spent several years working as a Detective before being assigned to the State Police Public Information Office. In 2008, Karen was selected to become an Instructor for her agency and was tasked with training over 1,000 officers annually in the areas of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Eyewitness ID, and Missing Persons. In 2008, Karen was assigned as a Legislative Liaison, representing her agency at the State Capitol during legislative sessions. She also served as Chief of Staff for the Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
Karen currently sits on the Legislative Family Violence Model Policy Governing Council, which sets the minimum standard for policies directly related to law enforcement response to incidents of family violence. In the past, she has also served on the CCDAV Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, the 2015 Legislative Task Force Studying Family Violence and its impact on Children and the CCADV Law Enforcement Advisory Board.