Karen Ashley grew up in upstate New York and attended SUNY Cortland before transferring to Arizona
State University where she majored in education. Ashley graduated with a bachelor’s degree from ASU
and served with the Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Peoria Police Departments. She promoted through the ranks
at the Peoria Police Department and was named Deputy Police Chief in 2000. After retiring in 2007,
Ashley worked for the Arizona Department of Homeland Security for two years as the agency’s Deputy
Director, and then spent eleven years with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office serving as the
agency’s Chief of Investigations. The majority of her law enforcement career she was involved with
CALEA and accreditation programs. Chief Ashley helped to draft the Arizona Law Enforcement
Accreditation Program before she retired from full-time public safety and moved to Charlotte to be
closer to family. Ashley began her career with NCDOJ in August of 2022 as the North Carolina Law
Enforcement Accreditation (NCLEA) Program Manager. She holds a master’s degree in educational
leadership from Northern Arizona University, is a graduate of The Rocky Mountain Leadership Program
and the FBI National Academy.