Pat Connolly

Admin. of Justice Instructor

During his 23-year career as an FBI Special Agent, Pat Connolly taught part time at the University of Phoenix and provided training for law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, foreign law enforcement agencies and others.

Three years before mandatory retirement from the FBI, he heard about the opening in MiraCosta’s Administration of Justice Department. “This looked like a very good opportunity to start a second career,” says Pat, who since 2003 has led the department and teaches Introduction to Administration of Justice, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure.

Pat brings to those classes a first-person perspective. He was trained as an FBI hostage negotiator/crisis intervention specialist, and his FBI experience involved investigating violent crime, organized crime, white collar crime, civil-rights related activities, and international and domestic terrorism--many involving sophisticated techniques and targeting significant criminal enterprises. His assignments have included tours as an FBI congressional representative on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and as an FBI SA attorney responsible for advising FBI management and field divisions on various legal issues, with an emphasis on electronic surveillance and undercover operations. He has also managed the FBI North County Resident Agency and coordinated FBI San Diego’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Now, in addition to teaching at MiraCosta, he is working on the development of courses related to terrorism, homeland security and crisis management designed for law enforcement officers, interested students, community members, and business people.

“Teaching gives you such a great opportunity to influence the lives of others,” says Pat. “And the topics are especially timely given the importance of justice issues, law enforcement issues, and terrorism issues.”