ROGERS — Twenty-five years of experience will walk out of the Rogers Police Department today when Capt. Ron Largent retires from police work.
Largent began his career with Rogers police on April 30, 1988, after working as a deputy sheriff in Missouri.
“I was thrilled when I was accepted by the Rogers Police Department. I was following in my father’s footsteps. He was a Kansas City police officer,” Largent said.
As a young officer, Largent served under Mike Jones who would become police chief.
“Mike taught me a lot, but he also yelled at me a lot when I made mistakes,” Largent said with a slight grin.
“I did yell at him a lot,” Jones said. “I was pretty tough on him sometimes. I think I apologized several years later, but maybe not.”
“All kidding aside, Ron become one of the best officers on the force,” Jones said. “He’s always been dependable. He’s the kind of guy that will stand by you during an investigation. If he is on the scene, he stays and works the scene with you. He’s very thorough and doesn’t miss anything. That’s one reason he was such a good investigator. It’s going to be difficult to replace 25 years of experience when Ron leaves the department.”
Largent admits criminal investigation was his favorite assignment. He worked his way through the ranks from patrol officer to the investigation division and he leaves the department as commander of the unit.
“One case I worked wasn’t hard to solve, but it was satisfying,” Largent said.
“In 2007 or 2008 a child was kidnapped at Eastside Elementary and molested. We were questioning some people, but I had a suspicion that George Perez might be the best suspect. I’d been arresting him since he was 17 for sexual assault. He was a registered Level 3 sex offender,” Largent said.
By 7 p.m. the night of the incident, Largent said he had enough probable cause for a search warrant of Perez’s house.
“We went to his house and arrested him. He is doing two life terms for kidnapping and rape. I felt good about taking him off the street before another child was molested,” he added.
Another case Largent said he remembers is an unsolved rape which occurred Nov. 9, 1997.
A teacher was working in her classroom on a Sunday morning when the incident occurred.
“She was in her classroom at Tillery Elementary when an armed man grabbed her. He took her to the restroom and raped her. Hayes Minor and I have continued to work the case over the years,” Largent said.
“In 2003, we gave the case a fresh look and went over every detail and clue again and didn’t find anything. We have a DNA profile of the man, but we never have gotten a hit on our John Doe warrant. That case still bothers me,” Largent said.
Minor, now a captain with the department, will take over as criminal investigation commander in addition to his patrol commander responsibilities. He said he learned a lot from Largent over the years.
“He was my training officer when I joined the force. I was young and eager and wanted to get out on the streets and fight crime,” Minor said.
“I rode with Ron just waiting for something to happen. What usually happened is we would ride around during a shift and then I would watch Ron do paperwork. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be,” Minor joked.
“As I moved up through the ranks, I learned a lot from Ron, especially as an investigator. I learned just by watching him at a crime scene. He rarely missed anything big or little. He didn’t stomp around in a crime scene the way some officers do and then leave. He worked the scene looking for every clue or piece of evidence he could find that would help solve the crime,” Minor said.
“I enjoyed being an investigator more than anything else I did as a police officer. I worked every job you could have in the department except as an undercover officer,” Largent said.
Largent’s reputation as an investigator was not limited to the Rogers department. Greg Hines, Rogers mayor, also served as a Bentonville police officer and and Benton County sheriff’s deputy. He agreed with Jones regarding Largent’s dependability and steadiness on the job.
At A Glance
Largent Reception
A reception for Capt. Ron Largent, who is leaving after 25 years with the Rogers Police Department is scheduled 2-4 p.m. today at the department, 1905 S. Dixieland Road. A presentation is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Source: Staff Report
“When I was in Bentonville and the sheriff’s office, I’d heard that Ron was great investigator. I got to see him conduct an investigation a couple of times and he was good. He really knows how to work a crime scene and often sees something that other investigators might have missed,” Hines said.
“Largent is a good enough administrator that I appointed him to be the interim police chief between Steve Hamilton and James Allen. I knew I could count on Ron to do the job that needed to be done without a lot of fanfare or gnashing of teeth,” Hines said.
“I’m an outdoor kind of guy. I’d rather be outside doing something rather than being inside. When I moved in to management, my days on the street pretty much ended. Like most officers, I always want to be were the action is,” Largent said.
“I really missed being on the street when I made captain in 2001, but there are some advantages to being behind a desk. It’s warm in the winter, cool in the summer and at some point you get too old to wrestle with young drunks anymore and enjoy it,” Largent joked. “The best part is I get to see my family more. I don’t get called out in the middle of the night.”
Police work isn’t for everybody, Largent said. It takes a certain type of personality to be a cop.
“You have to have type ‘A’ personality. You have want to do this job because you love it. If you don’t love it, I say get out because it will burn you out. Your family suffers when you’re an officer because you don’t have regular hours. I missed a lot when my kids were growing up,” Largent said.
Law enforcement has changed dramatically in some ways over a quarter of a century, Largent said.
“When I started, I had a notebook and pen, that was the high technology at that time. Now we have smartphones, computers in the patrol cars, and digital radios. Everything is faster now than it was when I started,” Largent said.
The job — be it patrolling the streets or investigating a crime — remains much the same, he said. Two things have changed: people’s attitude toward police and the number of guns in the community.
“For years I never drew my gun. About once a year an officer in the department would have to draw his gun. Now we do nearly 100 times a year. People don’t seem to mind pulling a gun on a police officer these days,” Largent said.
When Largent hangs up his badge, he’s won’t quit working.
“I’ve got a job in Springdale delivering electrical parts. It’s an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m job and I’m home every night. I know it sounds like a drastic change, but I was looking for a drastic change,” he said.
“Will I miss being a police officer? Sure I will. You don’t do something you love for 25 years and walk away without some regret, ” Largent said.