In 1987, Debra Downing was expecting her second child and looking for another source of income to help put gifts under the tree. So when she spotted a newspaper ad inviting police officers to join Metro Transit’s fledgling police department in part-time roles, she applied. Downing submitted her application the night they were due and joined the first group of 20 part-time officers hired, beginning what would become a 34-year career in transit.

Downing’s career in law enforcement began in college, when she interned at the Minneapolis Police Department. She later joined the New Hope Police Department, where she spent 8 years as a patrol officer. When she joined the Metro Transit Police Department, she went from policing a six-square-mile area to traveling on buses across the region and working with officers from many different departments. “The beauty of that was that all of a sudden we’d created this network of police officers who could share information and get a lot of crime solved,” she said. Still, there were growing pains – when she was hired, Metro Transit police officers had squad cars but no uniforms and called in their locations using pay phones. On one memorable occasion, she found herself chasing a suspect in leggings, a Minnie Mouse T-shirt and a green down jacket. “At that time, we just hopped on the bus and hoped for the best,” she said.

Looking for a new chapter, Downing became a transit supervisor in 2006. The job had some similarities – transit supervisors often respond to collisions, operator assaults nd other incidents – with one key distinction. “As a supervisor, the biggest difference is that we look, but we don’t touch,” Downing said. Even so, some of her habits as a police officer remained, at least in the early days. “I didn’t hesitate to go on a bus and get someone off,” she said. “It was just second nature to me.” Downing’s time as a transit supervisor also meant diverting buses through major construction projects and support some of the region’s biggest events, like the 2008 Republican National Convention and the 2018 Super Bowl.

In retirement, Downing plans to spend more time with family, including several grandchildren, and at her lake home in northern Minnesota. “Next winter, when I’m looking out the window and seeing snow, that alone will make retiring worth it,” she said.