Retiring can be an emotional experience, especially for those who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities and the citizens of that community. For law enforcement officers it signifies the final chapter of their service to their communities and the start of a new chapter in their lives. In December the Thurston County Sherriff’s Office shared a statement about the retirement of one of their finest deputies. In this case, the deputy was Chief Deputy Dave Pearsall. The Chief Deputy began his law enforcement career as a volunteer Explorer Scout at the age of 18 in 1982. After being an Explorer Scout, he became a reserve deputy sheriff. He worked for the city of Yelm for one year as a police officer. Soon after he became a deputy sheriff for the Thurston County sheriff’s office in March of 1986.
Chief Deputy Pearsall followed in the footsteps of his father who had also been a deputy sheriff but in the nearby counties of Mason and Grays Harbor. As he had started his career at the young age of 18 Pearsall ended up serving his community for a grand total of 36 years. During his time as a deputy, he served in a variety of assignments as he worked his way up the ranks of the office. During his career he has worked for four different sheriffs, he was first appointed Chief Deputy by Sheriff Kimball and then again by Sheriff Snaza holding the position for a total of 14 years. In 2014 Chief Deputy Pearsall graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy.
Pearsall has said that he feels that he has been blessed to have had the privilege of serving the citizens of Thurston County for as long as he has. Like many other law enforcement officers, Pearsall will continue the tradition of performing his final sign-out over the radio. His final sign-out will be from his patrol cruiser at 3:00 on December 31, this final radio transmission will signify his retirement. His final transmission was conducted with two of his grandchildren one of whom sat on his lap as he signed off for the last time in his long and illustrious career. His wife posted on Facebook that she was proud of his many years of service to the community. The Sheriff’s Office also posted a message thanking Pearsall for his service as well as a video of his final radio transmission. Pearsall has stated that he has plans to continue to serve the community by taking part in a wide variety of groups. These groups include the fire department where he is a fire commissioner, The Oregon Washington Lawmen’s Association, the Chaplain’s Association for Public Safety in Thurston County, and the FBI National Academy Association. He is also looking forward to traveling and spending more time with his grandchildren.
