Morris Police names Officer Sarah Markusic 2023 Officer of the Year

Officer Sarah Markusic has been named the 2023 Officer of the Year at the Morris Police Department, thanks in part to her consistency and her hard work every year.

Police Chief Alicia Steffes said Markusic is Officer of the Year material every year, and this isn’t just a year where she happened to have a good year.

“She leads the department in stats for arrests, for DUIs, especially, and just for her activity,” Steffes said. “She’s taken on a lot of leadership roles. She’s a drone operator. She’s recently becoming a field training officer and is in school for accident reconstruction.”

Steffes said it’s been a long time since Morris has had anyone at the department that can conduct formal accident reconstruction.

Steffes shared a story about when she hired Markusic and one of the first training sessions they had together.

During a defense tactics class, she was paired up with Markusic and learned just how quickly she could find herself on the ground.

“I’ll be honest: I screamed,” Steffes said.

Steffes said Markusic’s mother did warn her that she’s small but mighty.

“Sarah was the first female we’d hired in a very long time, and I’m old enough to be her mother,” Steffes said. “I was worried when she came in because she’s little and cute, and I always worried about her. I am no longer worried about her. She put me to shame.”