As a recent graduate of the Metro Police Academy, many opportunities lie ahead for Officer Monica Alnes, although, she’s chosen to set her path day-to-day.
It’s not that she doesn’t look ahead.
Wearing her tan patrol uniform at Metro’s northwest valley training facility, where she earned her badge, Alnes fast-forwarded four decades in her mind.
When she’s in her mid-70s, she said, she wants to be sure she can look back and say, “I helped people on a daily basis. I made them feel safe. I made a difference in the community.”
Metro seems to be a “perfect match” to create that legacy, she said.
While Alnes is humble discussing her pre-law enforcement background and qualifications, Metro veterans who have been part of her training are less bashful when they speak about her.
In the past, the agency was staffed by lots of former military members or officers with limited college experience, said Capt. Dennis O’Brien, head of Metro’s training unit.
A master’s degree, which Alnes has, was almost unheard of, he said.
Tack on a collegiate softball athletic career, a pair of bachelor’s degrees and an overseas stint with the United Nations, and Alnes represents a shift Metro has increasingly seen in its new hires. They’re armed with world experiences that can’t be replicated at the Academy.
Eric Carlson, a training and counseling officer and instructor, said he quickly spotted a sense of self-discipline with Alnes.
Initially, Alnes was not slated to be in her Academy class, which graduated in September, and was waiting for a turn as an alternate, she said.
“If a spot opens up, I hope she gets it,” Carlson said he thought at the time. “She looks like she’s going to be dialed in and ready to go. She had that air that she was ready for this. There wasn’t any hesitation or indecisiveness.”
He was proven right, Carlson said. She took charge and came out as a strong leader respected by fellow recruits. “That just makes the management of the class so much easier, because she ... serves as an informal leader,” he said.
When Alnes walked in the door, she already knew the expectations and had communications skills and a certain presence, Carlson said. “You don’t have to instruct those things, they’re already there. It’s just a matter of this is how we do it here... and they run with it” he said.
“I think she’s got a lot of potential,” he said. “I’m sure she’s going to do extremely well out there...Several years from now, if I’m still around, she’ll probably be my boss somewhere, and I’ll be OK with that.”
Alnes has always known she wanted to help others, but she did not always know she would be a police officer, she said.
At San Diego State University, she focused her studies on social work. She worked with a program helping asylum seekers before she refocused her degree ambitions to public administration.
When Alnes was in high school, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sparked interest in counterterrorism, and she tacked on a second major in international security conflict resolution.
Alnes wanted to broaden her perspective outside “my little isolated bubble there in California,” she said. Under the tutelage of her softball coach at SDSU, she moved to Munich, Germany, to play.
That led to a move to Switzerland, where she Alnes got a master’s degree at the University of Lucerne in world society and global governance, which is essentially international relations and law. Her thesis took her to the United Nations, where she worked with victims of terrorism.
Later, Alnes and her husband — she met him in Switzerland — explored moving to Las Vegas, a city experiencing booming growth.
Before she can patrol the Las Vegas Valley streets alone, Alnes has to complete six months of field training. She has about 19 weeks left.
Like all recruits, Alnes has strengths and weaknesses, said Sgt. Matthew Vorce. Her writing is exceptional, she has a positive attitude and is humble, he said.
She doesn’t have an “I-know-it-all mentality,” he said. “I could see her accelerating (through the ranks) very, very quickly.”
As one of her field training officers, Justin Terry has sat next to Alnes in a patrol cruiser for 40 hours each of the last several weeks.
Alnes starts every interaction with people “on a good note” but can easily switch it up when dealing with uncooperative subjects, Terry said. “She’s very strong and able to put the foot down,” he said.
Alnes is one of about 3,300 Metro officers. In a few more months, she will be able to patrol in her own cruiser.
When she attends pre-shift briefings, she said, she takes in the moment, realizing it’s real. “I’m Officer Alnes now,” she tells herself.