UW News

April 4, 2008

Finalists for UW police chief to visit campus

News and Information

Two finalists for the position of chief of the University of Washington Police Department will be visiting campus later this month.

Barbara O’Connor, currently chief of police for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will be in Seattle April 10 and 11. An open forum for students will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. April 11 in 490 Schmitz.

O’Connor has been at Massachusetts since 1987, although for five months in 1992 she served as acting chief of security for Mount Holyoke College. She became chief in 2001. She holds a JD from the Western New England College of Law, has a master’s degree in labor studies from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State College.

Robert Karnofski, assistant police chief with the Auburn (Wash.) Police Department, will be on campus April 16 and 17, with an open forum for students taking place from 4:15 to 5 p.m. April 17 in HUB 110.

Karnofski has been with the Auburn Police Department since 1981, serving as assistant chief since 2005. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Fresno State University.

While on campus, the finalists will meet with the search advisory committee, deans, UW President Mark Emmert, Provost Phyllis Wise, Vice Provost for Student Life Eric Godfrey, the Office of Minority Affairs Student Advisory Board, members of the UW Police Department, and other members of the UW community.