By Gina Horan
First Responders: Christie Mysinger
Climbing the ranks to become a pioneering leader in Lake County law enforcement.
Growing up, Capt. Christie Mysinger was inspired by CHIPs, Adam-12 and other law-enforcement-themed TV shows, but she thought her dream of becoming a police officer was out of reach since she was a petite 5’2” and barely 100 lbs.
“I figured I was too small, so I decided to become an EMT instead,” she says. “But I changed my mind when I was working in Detroit and met a police officer even smaller than me and figured, ‘if she could do it, so could I.’”
She left the cold and moved to Leesburg in 1990, then quickly began training at the night law academy at Withlacoochee Technical College in Inverness. She was then hired by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and given a unique assignment with the narcotics unit.
“My very first job out of the academy was working undercover at South Sumter and Wildwood Middle Schools,” she says. “I guess being little paid off because I was 19 years old at the time, playing an 8th grader.”
That was 33 years ago. In 1991, she joined the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and in 2021, became the first female captain in the agency’s history.
“I love my job,” Capt. Mysinger says. “I literally wake up and look forward to going to work every day.”
She admits there are days filled with more stress than others, but being near the top of the ranks with her experience allows her to be in a position where she can affect change.
“My units have all the toys like helicopters, boats and ATVs, and I am also in charge of the marine unit, communications center, the bomb squad, animal control, the dive team, the shop and other teams,” she says.
Capt. Mysinger has also managed to raise a family and get a master’s degree in criminal justice, which she obtained through patience, determination and the support of those around her.
“Our sheriff is very supportive and I’m a big believer in education,” she says. “The more well-rounded we are in law enforcement, the better we can serve the community by seeing things from different perspectives.”
Capt. Mysinger just celebrated her 25th wedding anniversary with her husband, Tom, a retired captain. They have three children and welcomed their first great-grandchild earlier this year.
Looking back, she says that being one of a very few female officers was challenging at first, but she never felt held back because she found a way to get promoted through hard work and education.
“I’m glad I can pave the way for other young women to come up through the ranks,” she says. “There are many talented young women behind me who will take my place in the future and that makes me proud of how far we’ve come.”
Gina moved to central Florida in August of 2021 from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and spent 10 years as a fashion editor, columnist and food writer for The Knight Ridder Newspaper group. She was also a photo stylist and covered concerts, fashion shows and festivals all over Northern California. In 2000, she joined KSAN radio as a morning show co-host and produced the news and sports content there for 4 years. She also covered travel, events and the restaurant scene for KRON-Bay TV. She is a veteran bartender and has worked in hospitality on and off since high school. Her passions include travel, road trips, history books, baseball, tasting menus and most of all, landing in a new city with no map or guidebook. Gina lives in Oxford with her mom, cats and baby hamster.
