A Front Row Seat to the Greatest Show on Earth

Back when she was in high school, Kate (Cordes) Byrne `02 never would have imagined herself as the chief of staff for the commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) Intelligence & Counterterrorism Bureau.

“My high school self was a feisty little activist and the idea that I ended up working for The Man would have horrified her,” says Kate. “But if I had a heart-to-heart with her, I think she would understand that the government needs people who think outside the box, and needs women in the room to help chart the course”

The path Kate is on has also taken her by surprise. She majored in math at Goucher College and also studied economics and international studies because she was always interested in looking at things more broadly. After college, she went to New York City (NYC) to take a high school teaching job at a boarding school just outside of the city, where she taught math as well as the history and geography of New York in a cross-disciplinary format.

“Teaching about the city made me fall in love with New York, so on a whim I took the test to become a police officer because I thought it would be a fun story to tell at a cocktail party – that I went to the NYPD police academy and learned to shoot a gun and drive a police car,” says Kate. “I had planned to go to law school, but then the NYPD felt like home. Entering the police academy was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

She has now been serving in the Intelligence & Counterterrorism Bureau for nine years and the NYPD for 16. She has worked in a range of positions – from patrol officer (everyone in the NYPD is required to start as a patrol officer, responding to 911 calls) to supervisor on terrorism investigations.

“Within the NYPD there is a lot of opportunity for specialization because we’re so large – there are 55,000 employees and 35,000 sworn members. Every day is a surprise, every day is different, and every day I get a front row seat to the greatest show on Earth. I get to see history happening.”

As chief of staff for Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner, Kate helps her oversee a massive operation of over 1,650 people in a bureau that is focused on such tasks as counterterrorism investigations, dignitary protection, deployments of special weapons teams at major events in NYC, and oversight of the NYPD personnel assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“We have one of the largest counterterrorism efforts in the world. The challenges we are confronting span borders, so we’re frequently involved in investigations in other parts of the country and the world. The thing that is so unique in the global security world right now is that it really is an ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’ kind of threat. I think back to after 9/11 when we were worried about Al Qaeda, but today we have security threats emanating from across a broad spectrum of extremist ideologies.”

Living through 9/11 certainly had an impact on Kate, who remembers being in Peter Fossett’s history class when she learned the second plane hit the World Trade Center.

“There isn’t a universe in which I come to New York City and become a cop without that experience,” says Kate. “It was an intense and emotional moment in history to live through as a 17-year-old. Now for me to be here [in NYC] and know the men and women who responded to the [Twin] Towers that day…it’s powerful and it makes this work feel important even 23 years later. This year on 9/11, I attended the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero and then I went to a Country Day alumni reception. When I walked in, the first face I saw was Mr. Fossett’s. So, 9/11 and Country Day are still very intertwined in my story.”

Other experiences from Country Day continue to impact her life and her work.

“Pat Dunn was one of the best teachers I ever had in my life; I learned more from her than any college professor or anyone since,” says Kate. “I could have written a mediocre paper easily, but she always pushed us and held us to a higher standard of critical thinking. I use those skills – of challenging assumptions, assessing sources, and striving to communicate clearing – to this day.”

Kate also says she loved Country Day because it was small and there was so much room to pursue intellectual curiosity. It’s something she encourages current students to lean in to.

“In high school, you don’t have to decide yet what the path of your life is going to be. I wouldn't have had the career I've had if I decided at 18 what my plan was. It's been a meandering journey for me, but I wouldn't change a thing. I work long days, but I wouldn't give so much of my life to my career if I didn’t feel like I was making a difference. The best adventures are not necessarily the ones you plan on.”