Caitlin Lynch holds in Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University, a M.S. in Criminology from Fresno State, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of police legitimacy, police training and culture, and officer safety. Her work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). She has taught criminology and criminal justice courses at the university level since 2014.​

Prior to her time in higher education, she worked as a police officer in central California in the capacity of a patrol officer, detective, school resource officer, and member of the rapid deployment and tactical enforcement team. She earned Basic and Intermediate POST certificates from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and completed the Robert Presley Institute for Criminal Investigation. 

Caitlin founded police legitimacy solutions because of her passion for helping law enforcement agencies and communities find common ground. She firmly believes that police legitimacy is at a crossroads right now, and it is up to law enforcement agencies to be proactive in earning, and keeping, the trust of the communities they serve.