Kathleen M. O’Toole is founder and president of O’Toole Associates, LLC, an international consulting firm with offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Dublin, Ireland.
The firm provides a wide array of services to government and industry clients.
Ms. O'Toole also serves as Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, an oversight body responsible for bringing reform, best practice, and accountability to the 17,000- member Irish national police service. Ms. O'Toole began her career as a patrol officer in the Boston Police Department and quickly rose through the ranks of local and state law enforcement in Massachusetts. Prior to her appointment to the Irish position, she served as Boston Police Commissioner where she managed 3,000 sworn and civilian personnel and an annual budget of $235 million.
She also served in Massachusetts Governor Weld’s Cabinet as Secretary of Public Safety, overseeing 20 agencies, more than 10,000 employees and an annual budget exceeding $1 billion. Later, Ms. O'Toole served as a senior corporate security manager at Digital Equipment Corporation and had global responsibility for executive protection and crisis management. Ms. O'Toole's other projects include consulting services to the U.S. Department of Justice on police profiling cases, participation on the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland as part of the Peace Process there, and Chairmanship of the Boston Fire Department Review Commission. Ms. O’Toole earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Boston College, a juris doctor from New England School of Law and was admitted to the bar as a practicing attorney in 1982. She is recognized internationally for her principled leadership and reform strategies.