Michelle Hughes

Photos by Gary Higgins

Patrol officer, Hanson

Tell us about yourself.

"I wish I had more spare time. ... I enjoy watching my kids play in their soccer and hockey games."

"My philosophy is treat people as you would want to be treated."

"The thing I do best is treat people fairly."

"The key to my happiness is taking care of my family and knowing that my work as a police officer has helped at least one person turn their life around, or something that I have taught a kid has kept them safe."

THE SKINNY

RANK: Patrol officer

AGE:39

BIO: Hughes was born in Quincy. When she was in the fifth grade, she moved to Hanson, the place she calls home today. She graduated from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in 1987 and received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Framingham State College in 1993. She is a court prosecutor, a sexual assault investigator and a Resist Aggression Defensively program instructor. She has also served as union president. She was a part-time dispatcher before being hired as a part-time police officer in 1995. She became a full-time officer in 1996. She coaches youth softball and basketball. Hughes and her husband, Michael, have three children, Caitlin, 11, Colleen, 9, and Patrick, 6.

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

What would you have been if not a police officer?An elementary school teacher. "I like working with kids."

Best advice you ever got: "My dad told me, 'Don't sweat the small stuff.'"