After 39 years in law enforcement, Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Sandy Karsten is retiring on January 13th.
She has been the director since 2018. Karsten was the first woman to serve as Missouri State Highway Patrol Colonel and is the first woman to serve as Director of the Department of Public Safety.
She explained what her first year in law enforcement was like compared to today.
“You know, it was kind of new back then with women in law enforcement,” Karsten told Show Me Today. “And technology has changed and grown by leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. And so, big difference there in the way a patrol car is configured and equipped.”
She said that law enforcement training is also better than ever.
According to Karsten, her greatest accomplishment is the relationships she has formed that have led to positive outcomes for Missouri, such as additional focus on health and wellness.
“We’ve had the first First Responder Health and Wellness Conference,” she said. “We need to focus and emphasize the whole person that is wearing the uniform, and make sure that we are providing them not only the tools and the resources to do their job, but also the tools and the resources to be a whole person and well doing it.”
Karsten is proud of the Missouri Blue Scholarship fund, which has awarded more than $3.3 million to 739 law enforcement recruits since 2022.
“In many circumstances, that also assists the local communities in which need those officers, because they can go ahead and hire them and pay them a salary while the state is paying them a scholarship to attend. And so, that works nicely for those communities,” said Karsten.
She encourages people to get to know their local police force. Karsten said many aspects about law enforcement have evolved over the years, including after the Ferguson protests.
“Many agencies offer a ride along, and people do find that very insightful into the world of law enforcement or the world of an officer and what they do have to deal with,” she said.
The offices that fall under her direction include the Missouri State Fire Marshal, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Veterans Commission, Capitol Police, State Emergency Management Agency, Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco, and the state Gaming Commission.
What has kept her up at night while leading the agency?
“You know, usually it’s my phone going off,” she chuckled. “So the State Emergency Management Agency is also part of Public Safety, and so we get alerts through them on weather or situations that would require a response from the state.”
For someone who has been challenged with a healthy work/life balance for many years, what’s next for Karsten?
“My husband is a teacher, and he’s been retired for about seven years now, and it’s time for me to join him. In addition to that, we have our first granddaughter, who’s 10 months old,” she said. “And so, I look forward to spending time with her and not having to say, ‘Well, I’ve got some work duties I’ve got to take care of, and I can’t take off today to be with her.’”
Governor-elect Mike Kehoe, who is set to take office on January 13th, has chosen former Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Mark James to return to lead the agency.
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