Lebanon police officer follows in her dad’s footsteps
BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – Taylor Nielsen knew by the time she was six or seven that she wanted to be a police officer.
When I was very young,” she said, “is when I really was like I really want to do that.”
It helped that her dad is Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen.
“I would always see him putting on his uniform, actually I used to get his uniform together cause his fingers were too big to put the buttons on and the clasp in the back so I used to put his uniform on, and he took so much pride in that uniform and just seeing him walk out every day just knowing that he absolutely loved his job and wanted to make a difference in the community, I wanted that for myself,” Taylor Nielsen said.
“I was pretty proud. You know, back when she said she wanted to be a police officer and then went on to college and graduated from college and done great in college, she knew that’s what her goal and her mind was set on and I think that was either the first or second job that you applied for and they offered it to her and I was pretty proud,” Sheriff Nielsen said.
Taylor is in her second year with the Lebanon Police Department.
“I think a lot of ladies think they can’t make good police officers, but I’m telling you that they can and they are and she’s living proof that women do make really good police officers. And sometimes we need that in our jobs. We utilize women the same that we do men, but sometimes they deal with people better than what men do and depending on the situation and the crime that we’re working, sometimes they’re better at that, they’re just a better fit,” Sheriff Nielsen said.
Sheriff Nielsen has been in law enforcement for 33 years.
“I think that we as law enforcement officers, that make really good law enforcement officers, have it in their heart to really make sure that we’re giving back to the community and that’s really what I wanted to do, I wanted to give back to the community. I wanted to protect people and that was my ultimate goal,” he said.
The two have worked cases side by side, including the one that the sheriff has said was the most heartbreaking of his career, when a Zionsville mom and her four-year-old son were found shot to death in their home in February.
“I worried that day about, not only for her but the young police officers that were at that scene, because when you see something as gruesome as that, it will affect you for the rest of your life and unfortunately, I’ve seen many, many of those scenes and many of those accidents and I kind of knew what she was gonna go through,” he said.
“He always told me that getting into this field you’re going to see things that you’re going to wish you’d never seen, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love my job and I still want to get out there every day and do the best that I can. And you just have to learn to get through that,” Taylor Nielsen said.
Her dad said he knew she would get through it using what she’s learned and her faith. And it helps that he is by her side.