Kathleen Baer

Kathleen Collins Baer joined the NYPD in March 2023 after a nationwide search to fill the inaugural role of Executive Agency Counsel, Liaison to the Citywide Special Victims Unit. Now part of the Legal Bureau, she serves as the legal advisor on special victims matters to the Police Commissioner, Chief of Detectives, and Chief of the Special Victims Unit. She also liaises with all five boroughs’ District Attorney’s Offices and victim advocacy organizations to ensure a collaborative, multidisciplinary response to sexual and gender-based violence.

Director Baer has played a key role in reviewing and enhancing training for Special Victims Unit investigators, ensuring they employ trauma-informed, victim-centered, and offender-focused approaches. She has expanded training to include the Patrol Services Bureau, Domestic Violence Unit, Internal Affairs Bureau, and civilian members, strengthening the department’s overall response to sexual violence.

She is responsible for developing and implementing policies within the Special Victims Unit, improving investigative responses, and supporting survivors. Notably, she created a protocol to prevent sexual offense evidence collection kits from being left in hospitals, identifying systemic issues and working with city and state agencies to enact reforms.

For this work, she received the prestigious Hemmerdinger Award of Excellence. Before joining the NYPD, Director Baer served as a prosecutor for 14 years in Brooklyn and the Bronx, specializing in sex crimes, human trafficking, and child exploitation cases. She has also been an adjunct professor at CUNY Hunter College, an instructor for the FBI Digital Evidence Moot Court Program, and a member of Columbia University’s Justice Ambassador’s Youth Council. She frequently lectures and serves on
panels as an expert in sexual violence investigations.

Director Baer holds a B.S. and J.D. from St. John’s University.