Described as tenacious, compassionate and by one person as “probably the most invested officer I’ve seen in this community,” Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King has earned the respect of citizens, city officials and fellow law enforcement officers, and now he is The Daily World Police Officer of the Year for 2019.
The newspaper presents the award each year in honor of Hoquiam Police officer Donald Burke, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1980. The award will be presented to King at the annual Citizen of the Year Banquet June 27, at the Hoquiam Elks.
“What I admire most about Sgt. King is his dedication to his community,” wrote Aberdeen Police Chief Steve Shumate in his nomination letter. “He treats people with the utmost respect and does everything in his power to help those in need or victims of a crime.”
King’s compassion was in a brighter light in July 2018, when Officer Brandi Zieber’s photo of him pushing a man in a wheelchair up Broadway was posted on the department’s Facebook page.
“Sgt. King recognized the man was having some challenges with the wheelchair and took the time to help the man,” wrote Shumate. “Ultimately Sgt. King pushed the man up the hill until he was to level ground.”
Lt. Kevin Darst, who has worked with King at the Aberdeen Police Department for 19 years and known him more than 20, said, “We have lots of good, proactive officers, but if you want to talk about a police officer invested in his community, who wants to make it the best place to live, and does all the things that you want a police officer to do, that’s Darrin King.”
Brad Johansson, Chief Criminal Deputy with the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, said King has been a valuable partner for his office.
“Sgt. King is one of the go-to guys in Aberdeen if you need to find someone in the criminal world. He knows the criminals on a first-name basis and knows where to find them,” said Johansson. “He’s made great partnerships with local law enforcement and works well with the Sheriff’s Office on a regular basis.”
King began his career with the Hoquiam Police Department in 1999. He credits his first Field Training Officer in Hoquiam, 2018 Daily World Police Officer of the Year Joe Strong, with teaching him the importance of working with other agencies.
“He told me to get close to the detectives and help them solve cases, help them find the people they are looking for,” said King. “I’ve been called tenacious getting after people, so when other agencies call and need help finding a person or a suspect vehicle, I help. We’re all chasing the same people.”
King said Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers, Sheriff Rick Scott, and recently retired Aberdeen Deputy Chief Dave Timmons and Undersheriff Dave Pimentel are others who have been “very supportive of my career.”
Path to the PD
King grew up in Aberdeen, graduating Aberdeen High School in 1985, working at Swanson’s Foods since the age of 16. He knew he wanted a job where he could serve his community and remembered teachers who had such a positive impact on his life growing up, so he got his Associate of Arts degree at Grays Harbor College and was on his way to a teaching degree at Western Washington University when he realized teaching wasn’t the path for him.
“I was doing some student teaching and realized for the first time that I didn’t want to be confined to a classroom,” he said.
King returned to Swanson’s Foods and earned a reputation among local law enforcement as someone with a real knack for catching shoplifters.
“Police officers would come to the store to handle the shoplifts, and they would tell me I should be a police officer,” said King.
King had been with the Aberdeen Police Explorers when he was in high school but had some reservations about pursuing law enforcement as a career. But he volunteered for a while in Cosmopolis, took some criminal justice courses, took an internship with Aberdeen and was hired on first by the Hoquiam Police Department in early 1999, then by Aberdeen Dec. 1, 2000.
Being there
King said he’s always felt being available when called upon is important. It’s not a 40-hour, 5-day a week kind of job, he said. “I’ve been told I can’t say no,” he said. “I think I’ve gotten better at that.”
Darst may disagree. He said more people have King’s cell phone number than anyone else on the force, and King will answer whenever called upon.
“I have, as a supervisor, lectured him many times about when he’s off duty to stop working,” said Darst. “But 24/7, if a landlord, a councilmember, the mayor, anyone calls him when he’s off duty he’ll stop what he’s doing and take care of it.”
King said, “It’s addicting how you feel when you are able to help somebody out, and you want more of that feeling. That’s what I signed up to do.”
“He’s just a gentleman of a man. He’s passionate about what he does and very compassionate when dealing with the victims of crimes or with the general public and businesses,” said Shumate. “He’s beloved by many council members and business owners. They know they can rely on him to solve whatever problems they may have.”
Community first
The cycle of addiction and its impact on the community and the addicts’ families has prompted King to go above and beyond when it comes to help. Most addicts don’t want to be addicts. They want a way out, he said, and helping them make connections to the services that can help them out of the cycle of drugs and crime is part of the job to him.
His approach doesn’t put him front and center of a lot of large-scale busts that get a lot of attention. King plays to his strengths, as do others in the department, he said. And his strength is using his broad community connections to dig deep to help those in need.
“He’s more interested in getting the drug dealer out of an apartment complex so the people there feel safer,” said Darst. “He’s more worried about talking to neighbors and making sure they are safe. That has been his primary focus. He does a lot of drug investigation, working lots of angles, using confidential informants, a lot of stuff on his own to combat drugs. Day in, day out, I think that’s more important to him than getting the big, star cases.”
King remembers growing up watching matinee movies in town. During breaks between films, there would be raffles for bicycles put on by the police department, and officers would be there to hand out baseball cards to the kids. It made an impact on him, and he decided he wanted to be that kind of officer.
“I saw them making a difference as I was growing up. Now it’s my turn,” said King.
“We used to have the Police Officers Guild Ball, it was the oldest in the state, our main charity, and we had to let it go because people quit going. Society changed and people just didn’t show,” said King. “Charities still wanted money but we didn’t have any to give. So I started up the Police Officers Guild Golf Tournament.”
Through that tournament, the department raises about $5,000 annually for youth programs.
“What I have seen from Darrin is he is very involved with the police department when it comes to activities outside the normal,” said Shumate. “Like the (music) challenge video, he got it started and was involved in the process, and he also has been instrumental in years past with team functions, team barbecues. He helps facilitate those and that goes toward the camaraderie of the department, which is important.”
King somehow still has time to spend with his family. His wife, Helen, is a special education teacher at A.J. West Elementary School in Aberdeen. His daughter, Lauren, is a straight-A student at Aberdeen High School entering her junior year. His 19-year-old son, Brendan, with whom he shares a passion for golf, is attending Gonzaga on an academic scholarship. King said his son wants to follow in his footsteps and is looking toward a career in criminal justice; his daughter is considering medicine.
Outside of work, King has spent a lot of time coaching local youth sports and serving with a variety of school programs.
King has a lot of family living in the area, and their support got his immediate family through a pair of significant health scares in 2014. As Helen was battling breast cancer, Darrin King had a stroke.
He describes that time in their lives. “(Helen) is going through chemo, her parents had died right around that time frame,” said King. “The kids were scared to death.”
King was leading a team serving warrants that morning at 4:30. He noticed the toothpaste on his chest as he brushed his teeth. He put his vest on backward. He left the dog out and the lights on when he left. The warrants were served. Suddenly he can’t read his report at the office and the voice of then Police Chief Torgerson suddenly was unrecognizable.
“I went to my office doing what (guys) do. Figured it would pass,” he recalls. He did call his wife, who demanded he go to the hospital. Next thing he remembers is his wife saying he’d had a stroke. It was caused by an undetected heart defect, a small hole we’re all born with, but in the majority of people it grows over shortly after birth.
The whole family stepped in to see the King family through. A month of speech therapy later and he was back to work. He’s healthier now, swapping his 1/2-case of soda for green and Snapple tea, and says he’s even more likely to let some of the younger guys chase down some bad guys these days. Both he and his wife are doing just fine.
“I’m real lucky in life to be able to give back to this community,” said King.
His peers say it’s the community that’s fortunate to have his service.
“I am happy to see that he is being recognized for his great service to the citizens of Grays Harbor throughout his career at Hoquiam and Aberdeen,” said Johansson.
The Firefighter of the Year, Police Officer of the Year and Citizen of the Year will be honored at the Citizen of the Year Banquet June 27, at the Hoquiam Elks Lodge. Tickets are on sale now at The Daily World or by calling the newspaper at 360-532-4000.
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Other nominations
Andy Snodgrass, Aberdeen Police Department
Officer Brandi Zieber, Aberdeen Police Department
Banquet
The Police Officer of the Year, Firefighter of the Year and Citizen of the Year will be honored at the Citizen of the Year Banquet June 27, at the Hoquiam Elks Lodge. Tickets are on sale now at The Daily World or by calling the newspaper at 360-532-4000.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Law enforcement countywide knows, if you need somebody found, Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King is the one to call.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Sgt. Darrin King, a 19-year veteran of the Aberdeen Police Department, has been named The Daily World 2019 Police Officer of the Year.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King is known throughout the community and by his peers as the “go-to guy” when somebody is in need.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Law enforcement countywide knows, if you need somebody found, Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King is the one to call.
COURTESY PHOTO Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King noticed a man in a wheelchair struggling to get up Broadway last July. He got out and pushed the chair up the hill to level ground. Officer Brandi Zieber took the photo.
COURTESY PHOTO Aberdeen Police Sgt. Darrin King noticed a man in a wheelchair struggling to get up Broadway last July. He got out and pushed the chair up the hill to level ground. Officer Brandi Zieber took the photo.
