‘I would do it all over again’

Longtime Austin detective retires after over two decades wearing the badge

Austin Police Department detective, Pat Retterath, likes to tell a story of taking his daughter to get a haircut a number of years ago.

On the way in, he stopped to talk to somebody coming out, yet another person her dad knew.

“She looks at the lady cutting her hair. ‘My dad knows everybody. Do you know my dad?’” he said. “And she goes, ‘yeah, I know your dad.’ Because they had been robbed and I had to interview her.”

The story brings a laugh to Retterath and is just one of the hundreds of memories he’ll take with him after retiring today. It marks the completion of 28 years in law enforcement, 26 of which have been with APD where he has been a detective for the last 13 years.

“I went to school for engineering and after one year I’m like, I’m so sick of all this math. I’m sick of math,” Retterath said. “It was always in my head to just do something you really want to do.”

Retterath first served as a part time police officer with the City of Adams before becoming the police chief for Brownsdale over the course of a year before going back to Adams for a time.

This was followed by his move to the APD in 2011.

A driving force for Retterath to become a police officer was a desire to give back to the community, but he also confessed that the “why” isn’t always an easy question to answer.

“It’s just hard to put into words what draws you to something like this,” he said.

During his time as a patrol officer, Retterath would often do his own follow-up on cases he was called to in an effort to get the case solved. He said that work provided him with a stepping stone toward becoming a detective.

Once promoted, Retterath’s prime workload were crimes against children — child abuse and child sexual abuse. He said the route into that world was startling in its scope, but it was work he was proud to do.

“When it comes to the crim sex cases, it’s amazing how much of it is out there. How much I’ve learned from it,” Retterath said. “We grew up thinking it was the guy hiding behind the bushes and it’s not. It’s the people that are closest to you that have the opportunity with your children.”

“A lot of it was eye-opening. Awakening,” he continued. “I’ve had to take a lot of kids from their parents and family and I never did it lightly. I always did it in the best interest of the child, also knowing that human services is going to come in and work with them to get that unification back.”

Though that outcome is the best case scenario. Seeing the worst side of human nature, Retterath said that in many cases there is no unification possible, but he also saw the outcome of bringing the abuse to an end.

Knowing that the child knows it won’t happen anymore.

“It’s always been my philosophy that we are put on this Earth to protect our children at all costs,” Retterath said. “Although it’s been emotional and trying at times, it’s also been extremely rewarding.”

Through that mindset, Retterath said he’s never brought his work home, nor has he lost sleep because of the cases he’s investigated.

Those cases included both trying to convict, but also exonerating when the evidence warrants it.

Through his investigations and the day to day work, Retterath has carried an overarching philosophy of respect for those he deals with as well as others in the community.

“That’s always been my philosophy; treat everybody like I would want to be treated and I think a lot of my success in that comes with that I can walk freely through the stores and businesses in this town,” Retterath said. “There are tons of people I’ve arrested that I talk to at the grocery store. At the gas station.”

A part of that is making sure that police are involved in the community and are seen by those they work among.

That visibility, along with the affable nature by which Retterath carries himself, has been instrumental in a successful two plus decades in law enforcement. Through all the terrible he’s seen, he’s also seen positives as well.

“I’ve learned in this career, people do horrible things to other people and that’s something that’s kind of stuck in my head,” Retterath said. “When a teenage girl is sitting across from me and she finally gives it up. I’m being sexually abused and she tells her story. You visibly watch her deflate in the chair. Oh my God, it’s over. It’s not a secret anymore. I don’t have to keep this and hide this and know it’s going to stop. It’s done. That’s a lot of it. Seeing the good that comes out of the bad.”

Retterath’s career will close out at noon today and he’s already got the next stage of life planned out. Time with family, a cabin near Duluth and time spent outdoors. He envisions a time of living the summers at that cabin and winters in Florida.

In short, it’s time to catch up.

“Just plan on keeping very busy doing that kind of stuff,” Retterath said.

Reflecting back on his years in law enforcement, Retterath has no regrets and it’s something he would have done all over again if given the chance.

He said that he’s relished working alongside some of the best in the field and along the way has simply tried to be the best police officer he could be.

“It was everything I thought it would be and more,” he said. “I have certainly enjoyed helping as many people as I can and I could.”

“I tried to do the best I could in any situation possible,” he continued. “It’s been exciting, it’s been extremely boring, it’s been a lot of fun. I would do it all over again.”

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