Peace Officer

Larry Raglione is a longtime Gresham and Troutdale police officer, horseman, musician and community member. He’s a very young 76 (you’d never guess), whose 51-year career in law enforcement is just one chapter in a life filled with adventure, service, and community impact. From his unexpected entry into law enforcement to his innovative contributions in both policing and public safety training, Larry has had an unwavering dedication to his work and the local community. He’s known for his creativity, compassion, and willingness to go above and beyond — from patrolling on horseback on the Sandy River to raising thousands of dollars for Special Olympics. Now in his second retirement, Larry continues to inspire those around him, eager for the next adventure while reflecting on a life well-lived.

Larry Raglione is a longtime Gresham and Troutdale police officer, horseman, musician and community member. He’s a very young 76 (you’d never guess), whose 51-year career in law enforcement is just one chapter in a life filled with adventure, service, and community impact. From his unexpected entry into law enforcement to his innovative contributions in both policing and public safety training, Larry has had an unwavering dedication to his work and the local community. He’s known for his creativity, compassion, and willingness to go above and beyond — from patrolling on horseback on the Sandy River to raising thousands of dollars for Special Olympics. Now in his second retirement, Larry continues to inspire those around him, eager for the next adventure while reflecting on a life well-lived.

Accidental purpose

Always an avid outdoorsman, at the beginning of his career, Larry worked as a manufacturing engineer, first at Freightliner Corp., then working at Portland’s Jantzen swimwear in soft goods. He happened to get involved in the Sheriff’s Reserve completely by accident. He had some friends who worked security. They were volunteering as reserve officers. One Thursday in 1973, 25-year-old Larry got a call from one of his buddies who said, “Remember when we talked about the Sheriff’s Reserve? Well, their Academy starts this weekend, we’ve got to do it! It starts Saturday, you have to get the application in and get a physical.” Larry said, “No, I can’t, I’m busy, I have work and other things going on…” But his friend was persistent and talked him into it. Little did Larry know, he was about to discover his calling. 

Larry excelled, graduating at the top of the class. He soon became very heavily involved in the Sheriff’s Reserves, rising to the rank of Sergeant. There were 120 reserve officers back then, who would field 8 districts with 2-man cars every night. They did transports to the jail or to Dammasch State Hospital, traffic work, accident control — essentially providing backup for the full time officers, which, he said, “freed the cops to do cop work.” As he became more and more involved, Larry realized he had fallen in love with police work and hated his day job.

Getting on the horse

A deputy friend told Larry that Troutdale needed an officer, and that he should go talk to the chief. He was hired, at one-quarter of his previous pay. But he poured all his energy and passion into the work. Larry is an outside-the-box thinker, which came into play near the Sandy River. In the 1970s the city park on the Sandy River was a popular spot for kids to throw keg parties. It had always been a challenge to patrol because there was no access to drive on the beach. But Larry had an idea. Since his early days spending lots of time working on a relative’s ranch in eastern Oregon, riding horses was one of his favorite things. He noticed a barn nearby and came up with the idea to bring a horse into the situation. As a mounted officer, he successfully patrolled the beach all summer by horseback for a few years, that is, until the barn burned down. About that same time, the City of Portland was restarting their mounted patrol unit, and he was able to help them get it up and running.

A fellow officer, David Boyce, had this to say about his time serving with Larry, 

“I’ve known Larry since June, 1980 when I became employed with the Troutdale Police. Larry was already employed there as an officer and had been for several years before me. I know Larry to be an officer who is fair to everyone. Larry has always been a ‘go getter.’ At one point he patrolled the beach area at Glenn Otto Park in Troutdale on horse-back.”

A Nike opportunity

Police work went really well for Larry for a long time. However, in 1982 an opportunity at Nike drew him away from law enforcement and back into the corporate world. He maintained his Reserve status at the Cannon Beach police department because he just couldn’t entirely give up police work. After three years at Nike, he again felt the pull to get back to full time law enforcement. He was hired by the Tigard police department and ended up spending the next 6 years with them. Then, he moved back “home” to the Gresham Police department for the next 17 years before retiring in 2008. 

Fellow Gresham Police Officer Paul Persson said, “I first met Larry when I started at Gresham PD in September, 1991. Larry and I became friends easily. I always viewed him, as I’ve told him several times, as being somewhere between a father and a brother. And I still do, though we don’t talk often enough. He’s a good man.”

But, for Larry the “go getter,” retirement didn’t stick. He went back to work, this time as a patrol officer at Washington State University’s Vancouver campus. He served there for the next 16 years.

For Larry, the key to success in law enforcement has always been balance. A mantra that a much older officer taught him early on became a guiding principle throughout his career in law enforcement: “I will never entertain myself at work as a police officer at someone else’s expense. I have always been fair, being far more educative than punitive,” said Raglione relating the sage advice he received. This approach earned him the respect of his peers as well as the people he served.

Sergeant Timothy Greene (retired) tells of Larry’s time with him at Washington State University Vancouver campus, “An opening for a full time Police Officer came open and Larry applied for that position and was hired… Larry had just retired from Gresham Police Department and was pretty eager to get to work. I was more laid back after being there several years and [didn’t get] too excited over things. There was very little crime, if any, on campus. More or less we were there to respond to emergencies, whether they were medical or minor disagreements between students… Since I retired a second time and moved to Montana, we have remained good friends and we stay in contact with each other.”

Second retirement

In September, 2024 Larry retired from his position with the Washington State campus in Vancouver, marking his second retirement from law enforcement, having served a total of 51 years. This is remarkable, considering the average career in law enforcement is 25-30 years. Feeling much younger than his age, Larry explains “I’ve done some really different things. I’ve always been a little bit entrepreneurial, not your typical SWAT police department guy. I’m community oriented. I don’t mind taking care of the bad guys and all of that, but I really enjoy the citizens and getting to know lots of people over time. Like when [the general manager at a local car dealer] had my cell phone number. If a car was stolen, he would call me directly instead of calling 911.”

Firearms safety instructor

Beyond his work as an officer, Larry’s passion for public safety led him to become a firearms instructor. He’s spent over three decades teaching and mentoring others, starting with training at the NRA Instructor Academy to become certified in 1992. This passion for safety turned into a business when a friend needed someone to help with fingerprinting at trainings. Larry was soon drafted to start teaching classes. His police work schedule of four 10-hour shifts left the weekends free to offer concealed carry permit classes to the public, while also providing a fulfilling way for him to connect with countless people in the community. He is still doing it, holding classes all around the northwest, including Gresham-Sandy (See page 18 for more information).

Meeting Renee

It wasn’t just the badge that defined Larry — but his deep connection to the people around him. During Larry’s time with Gresham Police, some significant life events unfolded: the biggest one was meeting his wife, Renee, and also discovering the satisfaction gained from organizing people to get involved in helping others.

Renee worked for the David Douglas school district managing textbooks and also part-time at Harvest Mill Bakery in Gresham. The bakery was a convenient spot for officers to grab a coffee and catch up writing their reports.

One hot September day, Larry had a meeting there with a dispatcher friend, and he was running late. Renee was working and asked what she could get started for the dispatcher. “Oh, I’m just waiting for Raglione,” was the reply. Trying to remember which officer Raglione was, Renee asked, “Is he the one who comes in feeling the air?”, waving her arms to mimic how Larry would always walk in and decide if the air conditioning was working well enough to be comfortable with all the layers of uniform gear. They chatted a few minutes, with the dispatcher suggesting, “When he gets here, you should give him a bad time about that.” Renee said, “Don’t worry, I will.”

At 5:37pm (he remembers the exact time),Larry walked in and fanned the air with his arms as usual, trying to decide if he wanted to stay inside or go out. The place was kind of busy, and Renee looked up and caught him off guard with “Hey! If it’s too hot in here for you, there’s the door!” A little friendly bantering back and forth ensued. The dispatcher decided to play matchmaker and asked Renee some personal questions, such as, “Do you dance? Do you like horses? Do you do this/that…” — basically running down Larry’s checklist. He laughed telling the story, recalling that it was a little uncomfortable at the time.

Thinking she was pretty cute and that he liked her, a couple of days later Larry stopped back in. This time Renee was working by herself. He asked her if she’d like to go out, and she politely declined, “I’m busy for the next three weeks.” She didn’t seem interested but he wasn’t ready to give up that easily. Coincidentally, he was about to go out of town, so he countered with “I’m tied up for most of the next three weeks myself, so how ’bout after that?” She looked at him and said, “Fine, I don’t care,” clearly expecting that to be the end of it.

He persisted, and Renee eventually agreed to go out with him. That first date was anything but typical. He wanted to take her to the coast for the day, but it didn’t happen because the weather was horrible. So, Larry asked her what she thought of driving over the mountain to enjoy the beautiful weather in Bend and Sisters instead. Letting her know that he had to go to a business meeting at his brother’s home there and that it would need to be an overnight trip, he assured her that his brother had a big house and she would have all the space and privacy she wanted. She was intrigued and decided to go.

It ended up being a great time getting to know each other. Larry needed to be back to work, and they were having such a good time that they weren’t ready for it to be over. He remembers asking, “Do you want to go on a ride along?” And she said “Sure,” clearly being unsure about the whole cop thing. The close-up view watching Larry at work helped her see more of who he really was, and from that moment on everything was fine. Long story short, they saw each other for the next three days, and they’ve been together ever since.

Raising money for the Special Olympics 

What if you could wake up one day and realize your simple idea inspired people to act and raised thousands of dollars, all in the name of a cause bigger than yourself? That’s exactly what happened to Larry when he took the leap from participating in small, local acts of giving to creating one of the most successful fundraising events in Oregon for the Special Olympics.

Earlier, in the 1970s and 1980s, Larry and other officers enjoyed playing music and singing in uniform for the residents at Edgefield Manor, when it was nursing home before the McMenamin brothers purchased it in 1990. However, his experience of “giving back” was about to go to a whole new level in Gresham.

Special Olympics come calling

“I always say, ‘Be careful of the free lunch’,” he laughed, remembering the day some Redmond Police friends invited him to lunch – “on them.” He ended up being recruited to be part of something called the “Law Enforcement Torch Run” steering committee. Before he knew it, he was in charge of the Columbia River leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), a fundraiser for Special Olympics of Oregon. “It’s a big thing, where our leg starts up on Mount Hood and comes down to Jantzen Beach, which hooks up with another leg that goes from there to the coast. Kind of like the Hood to Coast Relay but different.” The focus? Raise money, generate pledges, and push each other to make the most of every dollar donated. The Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) is the largest fundraising organization for Special Olympics, with thousands of members actively participating every year across the nation. Over the years, additional platforms have been added, including the Polar Plunge, Tip-A-Cop, and more. All of these channels allow law enforcement members to help promote acceptance and inclusion for people with disabilities, beginning at home in their own communities.

Seeing the impact of this one-day event started Larry’s wheels turning. Pledges were great, but there had to be a way to make a bigger contribution. A self described “band guy” for many years, Larry sings and plays country music. David Boyce, fellow officer who had served with Larry at the Troutdale Police said of Larry’s musical talent, “Larry is quite talented as a musician as well. He generally plays rhythm guitar and has an exceptional singing voice. I’ve known Larry to play for various benefits for no pay because he just enjoys doing it.”

Friend and former Sandy police chief Dale Scobert shared how he met Larry, “I was the new chief of police in Sandy and Larry walked in and asked if I’d like to be involved with the Gresham Police in the Special Olympics.” Music turned out to be the way for Larry to rope in Dale. Dale was a musician as well. Together, they came up with a bold plan: to do a “billboard set” fundraiser. Picture this: a 3-day event, with Larry and Dale performing 50 feet in the air on a huge scissor lift, while a full band played below them. At the same time, on the ground, a pancake breakfast, a Corvette rally, and tons of other activities would draw crowds and raise money—all in the name of Special Olympics. That was the overall vision. Larry pitched the idea to everyone he could, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The TA Truck Stop (formerly Husky) agreed to clear their parking lot. Local businesses donated everything from food to tables to tents, and before they knew it, the event was set.

Giving away a ëvette

However, Larry still wasn’t done. He thought, “Why not give away a Corvette?” He reached out to the then-Carlson Chevrolet in Sandy, who made it possible to procure a Corvette at a deeply discounted price of $29,000. This for a car that retailed at $60,000. The color had to be Torch Red of course. They sold 600 tickets for $100 each, and the rest of the event was packed with other donations and activities that kept people engaged and excited.

The result? An unprecedented $67,000 raised for Special Olympics of Oregon. It was the highest-earning leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run in the entire state, and it was all thanks to Larry’s initiative and a community working together.

Planning the event was a ton of work the first year, but with the support of great staff at the Gresham police department — who allowed him to take the time to organize it — Larry said, “After that first year it was kind of like hitting repeat; calling everyone up to say ‘We’re doing this again, are you in?’ And they’d say ‘Sure, yeah, that was fun!’” 

It was amazing how community collaboration and creative thinking came together to support a great cause. The takeaway: everyone has the power to make an impact; you just have to start.

Scobert shared his perspective on this interaction with Larry, “We became fast friends. It came down to service and supporting Special Olympics. Larry and I did everything from organizing our guys to run in the race to carrying the torch. We sat on a scissors lift above the Truck and Travel on I-84 for a couple of days. We’ve done Corvette raffles. We’ve been to the Special Olympics conferences in Anchorage, Alaska. He’s got a heart of gold and I think Special Olympics was a big thing for him and me. He was the driving force for a number of years at the Gresham Police Department. He headed up all their involvement for Special Olympics.”

Renee loves Yellowstone

Over the course of traveling the circuit from Oregon and Washington to Idaho and Montana with Larry to teach concealed carry certification classes the past few years, Renee discovered she absolutely loved Yellowstone – the real Yellowstone, not the TV series. She told Larry that if they were going to spend their ‘vacation’ time working, she wanted to be in Yellowstone. One time, the last stop on the class circuit happened to be a sporting goods store in the small town of Cody, Wyoming. They had four days off after the class, which gave them time to explore and make friends. They soon realized this town was meant to be their new home. Today, they split their time between Cody and traveling to teach classes in Gresham and around the northwest area.

Larry has now retired for the second time. Still, he doesn’t seem quite done. He said “I retired two months ago and I’m getting the itch to do something else,” hinting at another adventure just around the corner.

One thing he does do in Cody is participate in  a group called Old West Mounted Lawman’s Association. All the members are current or retired law enforcement. 

Larry said, “We all dress in late 1800’s western attire. Basically we look and ride like the scene at the OK Corral in Tombstone. We ride in several parades in the area.  Lovell, Powell, Meeteetse, and the big one, 4th of July in Cody. We donate parade prize monies to local high school students for college scholarships.”

One of the good guys.

Larry Raglione’s life is a testament to the power of service, community, and doing the right thing. From his 51 years in law enforcement to his contributions to the Special Olympics and his ongoing work as a firearms safety and concealed carry instructor, Larry has left an indelible mark on the people and places he’s touched. As he moves into this next chapter, one thing is sure: whatever Larry does, it will be with the same energy, creativity, and love for others that has defined his journey so far.

Mark Kost, a friend from church, said, “[He] loves his community and loves to protect his community!”

His long time friend, David Boyce, summed up by saying,“Attending church regularly is a big part of Larry’s life as well. Larry and I have been friends for about 45 years now. When it comes down to it, Larry is dedicated to Law Enforcement, which is his whole life. Larry continues to give back to the community.”

His good friend, former chief Schubert said, “[Larry’s] policing style and mine are very similar in how we approach the public and try to do the best we can for them. You know, to be of service to everybody he encountered doing police work. Very open and friendly, but knew how to take care of business when he had to take care of business. His whole life has been law enforcement and being of service to the community. He’s like that with his friends.” HVN

Mike and Joan Wiley contributed to this story.