Manheim Township Police Officer Alyse Gallagher always had the call-to-service mentality in her blood – she grew up with both parents working in public service – but her path to becoming an officer wasn’t straightforward.

“Both my parents were dispatchers first,” Gallagher said. “Then my dad was the Fire Marshal in Chester County for like 30 years and was a Deputy Fire Chief in Phoenixville. My mom is a project coordinator and accreditation manager at a regional police department in Chester County. It’s just in the blood, that call to service. I see this job as a vocation. It's not just a paycheck.”

Gallagher attended West Chester University and initially worked in public service in security, dispatch, and parking services. Her bachelor’s degree may come as a surprise.

“I actually have my bachelor’s in fine arts,” Gallagher said. “Absolutely nothing law enforcement related. It's funny though because I have used my degree a couple times [as a police officer]. Just doing decorations for community-related events like making canvases and murals. I made an outline for National Night Out that kids came up and colored in.”

The fourth-year officer always had interest in a career in public service, but before she graduated from the Police Academy, she lived in Ireland – where she has dual citizenship – for a few years.

“Both of my grandparents on my dad's side were literally straight off the boat and they came over in the late 40’s,” Gallagher said. “When my dad was born he was automatically an Irish citizen, and I got my citizenship through him.”

Gallagher worked at a Centra convenience store (what she called Ireland’s Wawa equivalent) before moving back to West Chester in 2017. Once back in Pennsylvania, she worked full-time as a clerk for Magisterial District Judge Analisa Sondergaard in Wayne and then for Magisterial District Judge Bret Binder in West Chester while going to the Police Academy part-time. Both Judges are now Common Pleas Judges in Chester County.

“I've always been big on procedural justice and transparency,” Gallagher said. “Especially with my court experience and knowing criminal procedure. I find that people respond a lot better if they understand the why. Taking the extra time to explain why they're getting a ticket or why the charges are what they are versus what they thought they should be. If we take somebody into custody, explaining step by step what's going to happen next.”

Gallagher completed the academy in 11 months, applied for police officer positions in Lancaster through the Chiefs of Police consortium, and Manheim Township Police Department reached out. She’s been there ever since.

“Before I moved here, all I knew of Lancaster County was Shady Maple [Smorgasbord], the Tanger Outlets, and Dutch Wonderland,” Gallagher said. “I have some family in Quarryville, but I had no idea about all the cool little towns like Marietta and Columbia. Coffee and Cream is one of my favorite breakfast spots.”

Gallagher said she discovered Lancaster’s “cool little towns” through her girlfriend Holly Arndt, a corporal with the Columbia Police Department.

She has a bunch of interests within the law enforcement field and takes a variety of trainings such as traffic stops and drug paraphernalia, is a self-described case law nerd, and wants to focus on DUIs and drug interdiction as her career progresses. She most recently was appointed to be the handler of a Police K9 and is currently training at the K9 Academy, which will conclude in a few weeks.

“We’ll have four K9s and one on each shift,” she said. “That’ll be really handy and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Gallagher uses her passion for painting, plays with her other dog – a German Shepherd named Mugsie – and talks with the rest of her platoon as go-to decompression outlets to keep her mental health in check.

“Mental health in general is important,” she said. “I’m really lucky my platoon is very open. They’re like my brothers. I can talk to them about anything, and they know they can talk to me about anything. We don’t like that ‘just suck it up’ stigma.”

She sees a common misconception of police officers as them just being out to ticket people “like robots and that we don’t have our own families or feelings or things we’re going through.” She noted the difficulty of balancing – and trying not to express – emotions after experiencing a traumatic call.

All in all, Gallagher believes a career in law enforcement is worth it for someone that is doing it for the right reasons.

“Do it because you feel a call to service to others. Not because you want to wear a gun and walk around with your chest puffed out. There’s no space for that here. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. If you are, absolutely do it. I love my job.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.