LYNN — Marie Hanlon had never considered a career in the police force. Hanlon, who studied journalism at Boston University, spent time on the police beat during her studies, and it was then she was introduced to what being in law enforcement was actually like.
“People think it’s all glamor — chasing the bad guys and all that stuff,” the Lynn native said. “It’s about helping people that don’t have a voice or that no one would listen to.”
The Lynn Police Department recently highlighted Hanlon on social media in honor of Women’s History Month.
After graduating from BU in May of 1985, Hanlon joined the police academy just a few months later, in February. She started as a patrolman, first on the day shift and then working nights, until a job opened up in the juvenile department. It was then that she knew, immediately, that was where she wanted to take her career next.
“The things that I felt that I accomplished the most were cases with small children who couldn’t advocate for themselves,” Hanlon said. “Those kinds of cases where you could get some statements and hopefully get some evidence, and you actually got guilty pleas, that kind of made it all worthwhile.”
Hanlon went on to achieve feats that no woman in the Lynn Police Department had before, and in 2000, she became the first woman to achieve the rank of Lieutenant.
“I knew that there weren’t a lot of women,” she said, looking back. “As a matter of fact, when they built the new police station, I was the only woman that was a supervisor.
After 34 years of service, Hanlon is retired now and enjoys spending her time skiing in Killington, Vt., and traveling. While she helped pave the way for women in the field, she’s just as happy to see even more women joining the police force.
“I’ve been retired for six years now, and the amount of women who have either come on (and) have got promoted, I’m actually very proud of that,” Hanlon said.