Sean Cavanaugh

Photos by Gary Higgins

Police officer, Hingham

Tell us about yourself.

"In the city (working for the Boston Public Schools and the state Department of Youth Services), you see a lot of troubled kids, kids you don't see in Hingham."

"Not every day is car chases and bad guys. It's dealing with people on a level that isn't glamorized, helping people."

"Every day is something different. It's not mundane."

THE SKINNY

RANK: Sergeant

AGE:39

HIRED IN PLYMOUTH: 2002

BIO: Cavanaugh grew up in Norwood and graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood. He earned a degree in criminal justice at Suffolk University. After college, he worked for the Department of Youth Services and the Boston school system for seven years, then joined the Norfolk County Sheriff's Department. He was hired in Hingham six years ago and organizes a team of 13 police officers and firefighters for Project Lifesaver, in which at-risk elders and people with disabilities wear personalized radio wristbands. A wristband can help police find the wearer should the wearer become lost. Cavanaugh is married and lives in Hingham. He has two children, 8 and 9 years old.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?A police officer.

What would you have been if not a police officer? A teacher. His father was a teacher, and he substitute taught while working in Boston.

Best advice you ever got:"When you're working, don't take anything too personally. It makes for a long career."

Person who gave it to you: Peter Gill, court officer from Stoughton.

What do you do in your spare time? Run, go to the gym, coach son's youth football team.