Mark Gillen

Photos by Gary Higgins

Police officer, Weymouth

Tell us about yourself.

"I didn't really know anybody in police work before I started. It just kind of interested me. It's a lot like the military lifestyle."

"(The job) is active. It's definitely diverse. You can see a whole lot of things, (from) car stops to some of the more active calls, like a domestic."

"It was a pretty seamless transition (from the military to police work). It was a little difficult just kind of getting back into the normal life, being able to sleep again at normal hours, not having to go on a combat patrol and pretty much wondering what's going to happen."

"Really, it's just about being able to help people. There's not a whole lot of professions where you feel that when you're done with the day, that maybe you had saved somebody or just helped them out."

THE SKINNY

RANK: Patrol officer

AGE:30

HIRED IN WEYMOUTH: 2005

BIO: Gillen grew up in Weymouth as an only child. His father, a helicopter pilot in the Army, died of a heart attack when he was 5. His mother, a German woman whom his father met while in the service, raised him. He graduated from Weymouth High School, where he played basketball, and took up international studies at Boston University. He joined the Army National Guard in 1999 and has been on tours in Cuba and Afghanistan. He just just returned from Afghanistan in April. He will soon wed his fiancée and honeymoon with her at Disney World.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? "I wanted to be an Army officer like my dad."

What would you have been if not a police officer: Probably a history teacher.

Best advice you ever got: "To be myself and to make my own decisions and then to stick with them no matter what."

Person who gave it to you: Mother.

What do you do in your spare time? "Skiing and hiking. I read a lot. Mostly history, some fiction. ...I was a big history buff."