Top Of The Cops!

Rain · Top Of The Cops!

Why couldn't she come to Philly? Sad

Oh, that's right. Philly sucks. Laughing

Harvard grad is a police rookie who's ready for the big leagues.

BY ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF

Thursday, June 28th 2007, 4:00 AM

Calling Cheryl Walter one of New York's Finest is an understatement.

With her stellar fitness and academic scores, the Harvard graduate beat out all the other recruits to finish atop her 1,097-member Police Academy class.

The former Hauppauge, L.I., High School soccer star always knew she wanted a career in law enforcement.

"I knew ever since a sixth-grade visit to the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.," Walter, 26, said yesterday.

She chose the NYPD over the feds after reading about the department's legacy and realizing she wanted the thrill of walking a beat instead of being stuck behind a desk.

"I'm not into office work all the time. I'd like to be out on the street interacting with people more," she said.

The NYPD's paltry starting salary of $25,100 - which jumps to $32,700 now that she has graduated - didn't sour her.

Walter simply saved up money before she quit another city agency to join the NYPD.

"I certainly didn't become an officer to become rich," she said, adding that the past 51/2 months while in the academy have been a financial squeeze.

"Some people thought I was a little crazy."

Walter said she was the first from her high school to get into Harvard and the first in her family to take a job in law enforcement.

Her dad, a carpenter, and her mom, a special education teacher, mulled over her decision for a couple of days before deciding it was the perfect job choice.

They knew she had a future in public service ever since she was a teen popping off letters to then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"She was was just a strong-willed woman who spoke her mind," Walter recalled, laughing at the two or three notes she sent to Albright. "I never heard back. ... I'm sure she got tons."

Walter got her badge last week - shield No. 10832 - and hits the beat in the Bronx on Monday.

Her identical twin, Allison Gunther, was a little nervous for the safety of her younger-by-a-minute sister, but knew Walter could hold her own.

"She was excited and really supportive," Walter said.

Walter was a star soccer goalie both in high school and at Harvard, where she graduated in 2003. She went on to earn a master's in forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice last year.

agendar@nydailynews.com