NEW YORK CITY POLICE OFFICER KRISTA HANNESSON no longer works a neighborhood beat, but she's keenly aware of what's happening on the streets of midtown Manhattan's East Side.
As a crime analyst for the New York City Police Department's 17th Precinct, which covers East 30th Street up to 59th Street, from Lexington Avenue to the East River, Officer Hannesson's duties include contacting complainants after they've filed police reports, analyzing trends in crime within the precinct, and preparing detailed reports for her superior officers.
Working from a sunny office overlooking Lexington Avenue, Hannesson has a desk job she clearly enjoys. "There's a lot of good here," remarks Hannesson. "It's gratifying work when people send notes saying their property was recovered, or when a conflict was resolved."
The Precinct, temporarily located on the tenth floor of a modern office building while its home quarters are being renovated, serves one of the more upscale and sensitive areas of New York City, an area that includes the United Nations. "People tend to like police officers in this area," Hannesson says, smiling. That's undoubtedly job security when you're a uniformed officer on the street, as she was for almost a year, answering 911 emergency calls with her partner. "Nevertheless," Hannesson adds, "you never know what you're going to walk into. We were taught at the Academy that if you're in blue, you're a target." Although Hannesson understood what that implied, she likes to think of herself her fellow officers as being "targets for good"—for good-will and peace, rather than for anger or violence.
More than just a reflection of her upbeat and positive attitude, Hannesson's outlook has a spiritual foundation, built on an understanding of the goodness of God and His likeness, the man and woman the Bible says God made to be "very good" (Gen. 1:31). Goodness is a quality Hannesson strives to recognize in everyone she comes into contact with, regardless of who they are—and she expects to be a recipient of that innate goodness.
For Hannesson, the daily discipline of identifying herself and all creation as spiritual—as the reflection of God—is the best preparation she knows for police work.
In addition to the important practical training in police and behavioral sciences that she received from the Police Academy, she attributes her preparedness to another type of practical training she received years ago: Christian Science class instruction. "Going through Christian Science class instruction was the best experience," she says.
In this class she learned the invaluable life skills she employs every day: how to pray for herself and how to give a Christian Science treatment. "Each morning I go through the seven synonyms for God: Life, Truth, Principle, Soul, Mind, Spirit, and Love See Science and Health, p. 587 .—and I identify myself with them. I affirm that their attributes, such as truthfulness from Truth, intelligence from Mind, compassion from Love, comprise my identity and the identity of every individual," explains Hannesson. She feels this spiritual basis for life has been the reason for the harmonious relations she's with people both on and off the street.
I knew that since the allegation was untrue, it did not have power over me. It couldn't be in control of my position, of my life, of my emotions. God was in control of the situation.
But at the NYPD, as at any organization, occasional miscommunications and conflicts flair up between colleagues, and last summer Hannesson was caught in the middle of one. According to Hannesson, an individual she believes was outside her precinct, commented to another officer that Hannesson had questioned the integrity of a superior officer.
The comment got back to the superior officer. Hannesson describes what followed: "I was called into the office by the officer and confronted. I was sitting there and wasn't allowed a rebuttal. I walked out of the office thinking, What did I do? Who are they even talking about? It was a severe allegation against me that could have gotten ugly and cost me my job. I was frustrated and upset, and I went home. I was crying and thinking, This isn't fair, this isn't right, and I was praying for a week or so about how to deal with it. I knew that since the allegation was untrue, it did not have power over me. It couldn't be in control of my position, of my life, of my emotions. God was in control of the situation, and I did not have to outline the outcome. Again, I remembered that I was a target only for good."
Hannesson pulls out a copy of Science and Health from her pink leather purse and reads a favorite passage, one she says that helped her through this difficult period: "The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history." Science and Health, pp. 470-471.
Eventually, she says, the situation was resolved. "There was an affirmation by the superior officer that I was doing a good job," recalls Hannesson. "And the relationship between us has been very good ever since."
The Psalmist's supplication "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" Ps. 19:14. is a prayer Hannesson says she reflects on a lot and clearly finds helpful when she's called to resolve a conflict or to help maintain a peaceful, professional atmosphere.
Petite and slender, with long blonde hair and large, blue eyes, Officer Hannesson could be more easily mistaken for the law student or pastry chef she once was than a cop. Before applying to the Police Academy, she had built up a diverse and unusual resume for a prospective officer: studied in England as a high-school student; holds a Master's degree in Victorian art and architecture; studied cooking, and later studied to be an English barrister. Most recent job: general manager of a cafe in New York City's Central Park.
It was while working at the cafe that Hannesson first thought of joining the police force, when she noticed the officers on the community policing unit assigned to her area. "We'd see the same faces all the time, and it seemed like there was a real camaraderie among the police officers. I began to think I could combine my background in law and my other studies with police work. So I thought I'd just go for it," she explains.
What about being a woman on the police force? "I don't come off as a threatening presence to my fellow officers," laughs Hannesson. "But I'm not a pushover."
Having moved almost 40 times, Hannesson relishes the stability and sense of family the police force has provided and a job in which she sees many of her God-given talents come together. And most important, a job that enables her to serve her adopted city.
At 1:30 p.m. Officer Hannesson finishes her eight-and-a-half hour shift in the Big Apple, as she does each weekday. But on this particular Friday, she breaks at midmorning to take me on a brief tour of the precinct before heading out to the streets she once patrolled by foot and car. She pulls on her jean jacket, swings a scarf around her neck, and walks confidently up Lexington Avenue toward home, pink purse hanging from her side, a copy of Science and Health tucked safely inside.
