After patrolling Woodstock in upstate New York during the 70s and policing Miami during the height of the Columbian cocaine trade, Ron Shaw contemplated retirement. Nearly 10 years later, the Live Oak Police Department detective has finally decided it’s time to take it easy.  

Shaw and his wife moved to Live Oak in 2002 when he began working with LOPD as an investigator, convincing her that working in Live Oak would mean less crime and less late nights.

“Then here I am getting called in the middle of the night,” he joked.

Shaw, who retired this week as an investigator, is the first police officer to retire from LOPD since it was re-formed in 1996.

“I started out in a small community, so when I came to Live Oak it was like coming home,” said Shaw. “I like the small town atmosphere.”

Shaw descends from a long line of police officers, including his grandfather and an uncle who was killed in the line-of-duty during the 50s. After high school, he traveled the world in the U.S. Navy until 1969. As a law enforcement officer in the 70s, 80s and 90s, he went up against mafia in New York, drug lords in Miami-Dade County and chased down some of central Florida’s toughest criminals, before ‘coming home’ to Live Oak.

Although he’s seen some excitement, Shaw said Live Oak was never boring.

“We have the same crime as anywhere else, just not as much of it,” he said.

One of his favorite stories from nearly a decade of working Suwannee County’s most notorious cases, is the night he went undercover to bring down one of America’s most wanted.

“We got word that one of America’s most wanted was working at the county fair. We went undercover to the fair and confirmed that it was him,” said Shaw. “We brought him down.”

Though he dealt with hard criminals on a daily basis, Shaw said he enjoyed his job and leaned on his wife, also a former police officer, for support during the tough times.

“Police see the worst in people everyday. There’s a lot of stress in law enforcement,” he said. “You can have fun, but you can’t have fun.”

“It helps to have an outlet somewhere and someone to talk to,” Shaw added.

Police Chief Buddy Williams said LOPD is losing one of its most valued employees.

“Ron was an impeccable employee and truly dedicated and loyal to the law enforcement profession,” said Williams.

Shaw, diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006, described his health as “holding its own” and said he’s currently having chemotherapy treatments every week and radiation therapy. Now that he’s retired, Shaw wants to concentrate on his health and plans to travel the U.S. with his wife.

But, as he says, law enforcement is in his blood.

“I’ve done this for thirty-five years. Oh yeah, I’m going to miss it,” he said.