We Sent You To Harvard So You Could Take A Job Doing What?

Then again, it is of course a front-row ticket to the best show on earth:

Cheryl Walter is a graduate of Harvard University and has a master’s degree in forensic psychology, but yesterday, as she addressed the city’s newest class of police officers as their valedictorian, she realized a lifelong dream: becoming a police officer.

“They always knew I was going to do law enforcement,” Officer Walter said of her parents. “They were just surprised I didn’t do the feds.”
With Officer Walter’s pedigree — she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard and a master’s in forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice — she could have joined any one of the country’s law enforcement agencies. But the 26-year-old valedictorian, who during her speech yesterday at the police academy graduation at Madison Square Garden referred to her classmates as her “family in blue,” picked the New York City Police Department.

“It’s bigger than any of the other agencies,” Officer Walter said. “There is more of a variety of things to do.”

Even with the advancement opportunities the police department offers, the number of police academy graduates this year, 1,097, is well below the goals the department set. City officials, including the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, blame the low starting salary of just over $25,000 for the dearth of recruits.

“It’s certainly hard to live on the salary,” Officer Walter said, adding, “Things are a little tight.”