Officer Dale Reatherford was born and raised near Harrison, Ohio in Western Hamilton County. During his teen years, he frequently visited the Hamilton County Park District parks in the western part of the county. During this time he became friends with the Park Rangers who worked in those parks and he became interested in following that career path. He started his law enforcement career with the Hamilton County Park District in March of 1976. In 1980, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was placed in charge of the west district. During his career with the park district, he worked in all five districts of the Hamilton County Park District. He attended countless training classes during his career that covered all aspects of law enforcement and public relations issues. He was the defensive driver instructor, member of the Honor Guard, and the secretary for Park Law Enforcement Agencies (PLEA) which is a national organization dedicated to promoting the park law enforcement field. . As a Sergeant in charge of a district, he was responsible for all aspects of law enforcement in that district. This included all administrative duties, buying supplies, vehicle maintenance, hiring and training all civilian employees which was usually maintained at about 25 positions. Law enforcement duties included all the investigations, traffic enforcement, equipment and training. Officer Reatherford retired from the Hamilton County Park District in December 2005 after 29+ years of service. He accepted a position with Springdale Police Department in April 2006 as an Auxiliary Police Officer.