One ride-along. 

That's all it took to cement in a young Matt Langer's heart that being a trooper in the Minnesota State Patrol was his calling.

Fast forward 30 years. Langer, who spent his entire career with the State Patrol, knows he made the right decision to put on the maroon and gold uniform.

“It is safe to say I quickly fell in love with the organization and discovered a deep passion for our mission of traffic safety and what we stand for," said Col. Langer.

That one ride-along paved the way to ultimately earning a coveted spot in the 1999 academy. After walking across the stage at graduation and taking the oath, he was ready to get to work. His passion and dedication for helping others fueled his motivation for the next 25 years as he worked his way through the ranks, eventually landing the top job of acting chief in 2014 and chief in 2015.

“Although serving as colonel for 10 years will certainly be one of the highlights of my life, I still believe my greatest accomplishment with the organization was earning the title state trooper and walking across that Camp Ripley stage during graduation," Langer said.

While making his decision to join the State Patrol was easy, Langer said deciding to leave has been the opposite.

Langer accepted a position with the Internal Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as their director of global policing. Like the State Patrol, he has a strong passion for the IACP's mission. He said it's an opportunity that will allow him to continue serving in areas of traffic safety, leadership development and advancing the policing profession across the country and world.

While he's sure to go on to make a difference, he's leaving behind several accomplishments that have made the State Patrol stronger and our roads safer, including:

• Helping advocate for the passage of the state's hands-free bill in 2019.
• Growing an internal peer support team and re-establishing a chaplaincy program.
• Helping focus the State Patrol's education and enforcement efforts on preventing driving behaviors that cause fatal crashes. Minnesota's roads are now the third-safest in the nation.
• Signing a pledge to increase the number of female troopers and support staff to 30 percent by 2030.

Through all of the work and challenges, he's still most proud of the work troopers do each day to keep the state's roads safe and make a difference in the lives of Minnesotans.

“I am truly impressed with the work our employees do every day and am honored to have been able to lead them for the past 10 years," Langer said. “Our greatest asset is the people within our organization and the millions of Minnesotans who support us in our work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Langer's last day is April 5. Lt. Col. Christina Bogojevic will serve as interim chief until a new colonel is named.