St. Croix County deputy remembered as ‘an amazing human being’

Slain St. Croix deputy remembered by colleague

Authorities in Wisconsin say a man with a lengthy criminal history is the person who killed Deputy Kaitie Leising of the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office. FOX 9’s Rose Schmidt has the latest developments.

(FOX 9) - Former colleagues are remembering a fallen Wisconsin deputy for her smile and her passion for her job.

Authorities say Deputy Kaitie Leising was shot and killed by a suspected drunk driver Saturday night in Glenwood City, Wisconsin. Leising spent the last year of her life in St. Croix County, but her law enforcement career began with a two-year stint in South Dakota.

"Not only was she just an amazing deputy sheriff but even more so, just an amazing human being. A mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend and a really strong community member. She just really had a lasting impact on everybody that she came into contact with," Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller told FOX 9 in an interview.

Leising spent her last five months in South Dakota as a contract deputy in Hill City, near Mount Rushmore. Mueller said she was one of three full-time deputies working in that area. Her death on Saturday has made it a tough week in his office, where he said deputies feel like they lost a family member this week. Several members of his department plan to travel to Wisconsin this week to share stories with Leising’s colleagues from St. Croix County.

"One of her training officers was talking about the profound impact that she had just a short amount of time that he was training her, and that story is usually vice versa," Mueller said.

Remembering St. Croix Deputy Kaitie Leising

The St. Croix Sheriff's Office has identified the deputy shot and killed during a traffic stop on Saturday night. Officials say Deputy Kaitie Leising was the deputy killed in a shooting as she responded to a drunk driving call.

Her impact was just as profound in Wisconsin. Community members, including retired officers and law enforcement families, stopped by the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office with flowers.

"She's so young and has so many years ahead of her, and it just hits that much harder. It's heartbreaking and this needs to stop. We need to start supporting our law enforcement and try to make things better in the world and be kind," said Tami Klatt, whose brother is a retired St. Croix County captain.

"Anytime something like this happens, it's a tragedy to the community. It's obviously a tragedy to the organization but you just grieve for the family as well because having been in similar situations, it's heartbreaking and you can't wrap your mind around it," said Jodi Nelson, a retired Wisconsin police officer.

RELATED: Kaitie Leising is 4th Wisconsin law enforcement death of 2023

Wisconsin's largest law enforcement group shares that devastation. Leising's death is the fourth line-of-duty death this year, the most the state has lost in a single year since 2000.

"The loss of four officers within such a tight timeframe is a frankly alarming,’ said Jim Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.

In addition to the impact on law enforcement families, Palmer is also worried the increase in violence against police will hurt recruitment efforts at a time when so many departments are understaffed. He’s calling on the state to invest in local governments, and specifically in public safety, so agencies can increase staffing levels.

"Over the last 5-year period, we've seen assaults on officers in a line of duty just in Wisconsin increase by more than 42 percent. So that's troubling. Now, we're seeing the line-of-duty deaths," Palmer said.

Sheriff Mueller also pointed out the dangers that can exist with every traffic stop.

"Every day that that we put on this uniform and badge and come to work, there's the realization that we could have to make the ultimate sacrifice, and that's part of the inherent risk of what we do, but this was just a grim reminder," he said.