Son Gives Heartwarming Retirement Send-Off To Police Sergeant Father

After serving 28 years in the Salem, NJ police force, Sergeant Douglas Hogate Sr. signed off duty for the final time two years ago. After serving nearly three decades on the streets of Salem, Hogate clicked his transmit button and called in his final “Code 3”, indicating his shift had ended and he was headed home to enjoy his hard-earned retirement. When the dispatch came back on the radio to confirm the call, Hogate Sr’s son, Douglas Jr’s voice came over the radio with a heartfelt and tear-jerking response.

In words only a son could say to his father, Douglas Jr. thanked his father of his years of service and dedication to his job and his fellow officers. As his son’s reply continued, Douglas Sr. became overwhelmed with emotion and I’m not even going to pretend tears didn’t well up in my eyes too. The sentimental sign off ended with a hug and a handshake from a fellow officer as Hogate Sr. fought back the tears while sitting in his cruiser. As both a father and a son, there are few bonds as close as those shared by myself and my son, and myself and my dad, who I lost seven years ago. I can certainly relate to the emotions being shown by Douglas Sr. and the pride and love being felt by his son during this exchange.

With the current state of affairs with police relations being what it is, it’s always good to see some positivity coming from the law enforcement community. We know their job is one of the hardest in the world, and we also know a few bad officers are more than enough to tarnish the reputation of the entire LEO community, but we stand by our assertion that there are far more good than bad and we’re going to post as much of this type of thing as possible.

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