Gosh you know, I can't remember either! And I can't decide which answer I'd even like better! 😂
It seems more dark somehow, to think that handlers could be everyday people? Like a regular joe who's totally willing to help exploit others the way they do in the Dollhouse (or maybe they know it's going on and see it's an opportunity to protect the Actives? So many perspectives you could take there). I imagine they'd have to go through some pretty rigorous training to be able to take on such a role, that in itself is cool to consider.
But also, it would make a lot of sense for them all to be imprints. They could pull Handlers from the same group that they pull actives from, and would be able to easily skip the time to train them for the job.