Passing of Retired Officer Don Dart #65

🚨Passing of Officer Don Dart🚨

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of beloved retired Tukwila PD Officer Don Dart #65. Officer Dart was a well known member of our department and a staple of the Tukwila community due to his focus on community service, his big personality, his recognizable laugh, his smile and his ability to make friends with everyone.

Don joined our team on April 24,1989 and filled many roles before retiring on April 30, 2013. Most notably, he served as a long-time member of our Motors Unit. He was a Field Training Officer (FTO) and was oftentimes the veteran officer that officers and supervisors would look to for guidance in tough situations.

Officer Dart was also very passionate about enriching the lives of youth and believed in sharing his time, experience and hobby’s to better their lives. He served as an Explorer Advisor for our Tukwila PD Explorer Post, actively participated in the Special Olympics Torch Run and assisted in charity events for youth throughout his career. During his days as an Explorer Advisor, Officer Dart mentored numerous youths and helped them to stay on or get on the right path to success as adults later in life. Two of these Explorers (Officer Mosley and Commander A. Delic) were mentored by him during their days as Tukwila PD Explorer’s and encouraged to pursue their dreams of becoming law enforcement officers.

In retirement, Officer Dart traveled the country in his travel trailer where he brought his big personality across the nation meeting new people everywhere he went. He never forgot about his roots with Tukwila PD and would often check-in with his old co-workers or stop by the station when he was back in Washington to say hi and lend a kind ear or to give out advice to rookie officers to which he would start the conversation with “You’re a cop? I have socks older than you!”

Officer Dart will be missed by many and our gratitude for his contributions to our department, community and youth of our region can never be fully expressed in words