Newest reserve police officer has decades of experience

When most people reach 18 years of age, they rarely have their adult lives plotted for decades to come. We all seem to know a cousin or  grandchild who went to college and changed their major five times by the start of sophomore year.

Kumiko Carter knew exactly who she wanted to be at 18 and followed through on that goal. In fact, that’s the age at which she graduated from police academy, which led immediately to a 25-year career with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. 

Mostly serving as a detective solving violent crimes, Carter retired in 2017. Even in retirement, nearly every aspect of her life seemed to revolve around law enforcement. Now she’s back to business as a newly minted volunteer reserve officer with the Longboat Key Police Department.

Carter said being a police officer is in her genes — even though she didn’t always know it. When she was 18, her mom told her to go to college or start working and paying rent. Police work had always intrigued Carter, but it was only after she joined the police academy that mom told daughter of Carter’s grandfather’s work as a police officer in Japan.

“I like the intelligence aspect, the research, the nitty gritty,” Carter said. “I like to be able to figure things out like a puzzle.”

She retired 26 years after graduating the police academy to spend more time with her son, who was about 4 years old at the time. But investigation and law enforcement continued to call her. Carter worked to help people trace back their parents and families using DNA. She also worked at the Alzheimer’s Association, often traveling to places such as Tallahassee and Washington to speak about the law enforcement aspect of the disease.

Three years after retiring from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, she has joined Longboat’s police department in a volunteer role.

Carter believes her new role will make use of her versatile skillset: anything from public relations to crime solving to community policing. She also likes the idea of having a greater impact on Longboat Key than she could in Manatee County. The latter is a much larger jurisdiction, which meant three or four people were often assigned to a single project.

She joins fellow volunteer reservist  Ed Kolodzieski, who works with the department's Marine Unit.

Outside of police work, Carter coaches middle school hockey. She also works in public relations for Hill Motorsports, a racing team that competes in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.

Ironically, she says she doesn’t enjoy solving actual puzzles. Perhaps they’re a bit dull compared to detective work.