Quite often, children dream of what many may consider grandiose career paths. Some kids want to become astronauts. Some kids want to become professional athletes, cowboys, or rock stars – the list can go on and on. But for one local man, his childhood dream of becoming a police officer came true. In his mind, there was never any doubt about what he wanted to be when he grew up.
Originally from Lafayette County, current Magnolia Police Officer Luke Talley spent much of his youth visiting his extended family in Columbia County. A self-described "dorky kid," Talley was a heavy reader. He also enjoyed sketching and drawing many of his favorite literary and film characters.
“As a kid, I was more artistic. I was kind of in my own little world,” he said.
Even at an early age, Talley had an affinity for emergency workers. He compared them to the heroes in his favorite novels. He admired those who were more interested in the well-being of others than themselves.
“It was such an influencing factor because I was always reading those stories about such characters,” he said. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for first responders such as firefighters, EMTs, police officers, nurses, doctors – anyone who is in a situation before it can be all dolled up and prettied up for the public. I respect anyone who can go into a situation like that.”
Talley had a police connection as a child. His father knew an area state trooper, and watching the officer work left quite an impression on young Talley. At just 10 years old, he became fascinated with law enforcement.
“You see him pull up in his car, and he’s got his uniform on – as a kid, it just looked really cool,” he said.
After graduating from Lafayette County High School in 2008, Talley took a handful of odd jobs around Magnolia. Soon he enrolled at Southern Arkansas University with the goal of becoming a police officer. He did not pursue what many may think of as standard law enforcement curriculum, though. Instead of joining criminal justice or law classes, he took a different educational path after speaking with a high-ranking police officer.
“He told me that I had to be able to articulate myself as a police officer – especially on paper,” said Talley. “That’s what we do in law enforcement. We’ve got to write what happened. All we have is a piece of paper, and, based on that, people who weren’t there have to judge everything that we do.”
Taking the officer’s advice, Talley went on to major in English Linguistics and minor in writing and Spanish at SAU. When graduation neared, he was already in contact with the Magnolia Police Department about potential employment. He completed his final collegiate exams early and immediately enrolled at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy (ALETA) in Camden to officially become a policeman.
While at the academy, his training included early morning paramilitary style physical fitness sessions combined with daytime classroom learning. Recruits were not only required to master Arkansas state law, but they had to become experts in both highway patrol and domestic disturbance procedure as well.
After three months and one week at ALETA, Talley graduated on July 31, 2015. Five days later, he began his career with the MPD.
“I’ll never forget my first day,” he said. “I was terrified. I had just been through 13 weeks of getting screamed at and trying to pass tests, and now I’m a police officer. I guess it was new job anxiety.”
Initially, Talley joined the force as a police trainee. For 12 weeks, new officers would participate in a program designed to help them gain firsthand knowledge of daily police procedure by pairing them with a senior officer. Talley began as an observer. He was gradually eased into everyday police situations until he was accustomed to his new job.
“They kind of slowly give you the reins. You watch them deal with calls, such as domestic disturbances, and then you start dealing with them yourself,” said Talley. “Then, they let you get more and more involved until you’re ready. I was fortunate to have some very good field training officers. They taught me a lot.”
Today, as a nearly three-year veteran of the MPD, an average workday for Talley can range from the cliché to the extreme. One moment he may be helping an elderly lady cross the street, and another he may be chasing a fleeing suspect on foot. These swings from the mundane to the extreme took some getting used to for Talley.
“You can go from just getting a bite to eat to eat to getting a call for a robbery or a two-car accident on Main Street and you have to get the scene cleaned up and get the debris out of the road because traffic has got to flow. It goes from zero to 100 – you just have to be able to respond. I absolutely loved it, and I still do. It was quite the adjustment, though. I had just spent the last four years at SAU talking about books – it didn't get real exciting,” he said.
As someone who always admired those noble heroes of both fiction and real-life, Talley says he made the perfect career choice. He not only enjoys the ever-changing work schedule and workday, but he also takes great pride in his profession.
“It fits my personality,” he said. “I care about people, and I care about their safety. If they're having a good day or a bad day, I care about that. First and foremost, that’s kind of what my job is really about – the safety and well-being of the people and their possessions. That matters to me a lot. I’ve always been drawn to that.”