Meghan Peterson

Research Analyst

Meghan B. Peterson, a lifelong resident of Connecticut, earned her B.A. with a double major in Political Science and Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. Upon graduation in 2011, Peterson returned to Connecticut for graduate work at the University of Connecticut. There, she earned her M.A. in Political Science in 2013 and Ph.D. in Political Science in 2017.

In her undergraduate and graduate courses, Meghan pursued the subfields of Public Law and Political Theory in an effort to join her passion for the study of law on the one hand and political philosophy on the other. Peterson focused her dissertation, “Law’s Haze, Police Ways, and Tech’s Maze: relationships between American law, crime and technology,” on the role of law in policing operations within the evolving terrain of cyber sex crimes. Specifically, Peterson interrogates how lack of clarity within law impacts actions of and dynamics between, police and offenders against the broader backdrop of a surveillance-rich, technology-infused, risk-based society.

During her years of doctoral work, Peterson was fortunate to participate in two invaluable internship opportunities with the Connecticut State Police: one with the Sex Offender Registry Unit; the other with the Computer Crimes Unit. Subsequently, Meghan worked with colleagues at IMRP on the state task force charged with reviewing and modifying the CT State Sex Offender Registry in 2017.

After assisting the task force and defending her doctorate, Meghan became an adjunct faculty member at the UConn-Avery Point campus where she taught American Politics, Constitutional Law, and State and Local Government.

Peterson is delighted to be back working with the IMRP. She is currently gathering, analyzing and synthesizing research for submittal to the Connecticut Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force (PTATF).