Retiring KCSO deputy serves last shift after 34 years with his sons

KING COUNTY, Wash. — A family in King County has three men in the family in law enforcement.

Two sons and their dad are deputies with the King County Sheriff’s Office. The family ended up all working together Sunday for the last shift of Deputy Don Scherck’s 34-year career.

Riding along with Scherck, it gives you a taste of what law enforcement goes through every day.

Scherck noticed a suspicious truck with no plates in White Center and people hanging around the vehicle.

“What are you guys doing?” Scherck asked. “Who’s got warrants?” he said.

He called his sons for backup – and they discover two people with warrants out for their arrest. They take one woman into custody, but as they’re arresting the man – it appears he’s overdosing on heroin.

The woman with him said he took the drug recently and that he probably needed Narcan.

One of Scherck’s son’s, Kenneth Scherck, administered the lifesaving drug to the man on the ground before medics took him into an ambulance.

The day is a first for the three Scherck deputies – the three of them all working the same shift – a particularly special occasion for the older Scherck’s last day on the job.

Scherck joined the force in 1985 and spent a lot of his career training new deputies. He’s won the Life Saver Award and the Meritorious Service Award in his time.

“I was an instructor for years so I’ve taught most these people,” Scherck said. That includes two of his four sons.

“My sons are exceptional officers,” Scherck said.

Adam Scherck joined the KCSO six years ago, and Kenneth joined more than two years ago.

His youngest son here visiting is also in law enforcement in Minnesota in addition to serving in the military.

“I’m very proud of my boys doing this line of work,” Scherck said.

So even with his retirement, there will be no shortage of Scherck men serving and protecting. But his sons say, the “office” just won’t be the same.

“He’s always been the one I bounce ideas off of,” said Adam Scherck. “He’s been a rock for a lot of deputies out here,” he said.

As for the eldest Scherck, he may be getting out of the patrol car for good, but says some things will never change.

“You’re not working as a police officer. You are a police officer,” Scherck said. “Guarding and looking -- doing things that normal people don’t do. It’s part of what I am,” he said.

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