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SPARTA – Ben Schock and his son, Reese, have both wanted to pursue law enforcement careers since they were young children.
Tuesday, their dreams became true. On the same day. In the same law enforcement agency.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office swore in its two newest officers during a ceremony at the Monroe County Justice Center. Ben Schock joins the sheriff’s office as a transport officer, and Reese Schock begins his career as a jailer.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Reese Schock said.
Reese Schock, an 18-year-old graduate of Sparta High School, is making law enforcement his first career stop. For Ben Schock, it has been a much longer journey. He spent most of his childhood in Oregon and helped run a business until completing law enforcement training at Pioneer Pacific College in 2009.
After that, it was still another decade before Ben Schock took his first law enforcement job, when he was hired by Monroe County as a 911 dispatcher. He said the timing of his career path took into account his wife and four children.
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“The kids were a lot younger then,” he said. “Now it’s time to do what I’ve always dreamed of doing.”
Ben Schock said he’s looking forward to his job because it gives him a chance to interact with the public. He said it’s important to treat everyone with respect, regardless of their criminal history.
“They’re still people,” Ben Schock said. “They’re going to have good and bad days just like the rest of us have good and bad days. You have to listen to their frustrations and show empathy.”
Reese Schock wants to make law enforcement his lifetime vocation. He said becoming a jailer “is a good stepping stone for where I want to go. I want to end up on the road as a sheriff’s deputy.”
Ben Schock said his son’s “willingness to listen to people and his compassion” will serve him well in law enforcement.
“He wants to help people,” he said. “If he keeps doing what he does, he’ll do great.”
Ben Schock is married with four children, and the entire family attended the ceremony, including with his mother, Cindy Schock.
“We’re ecstatic,” Cindy Schock said. “We’ve had family members that have had problems with the law, and that didn’t deter (Ben and Reese) from law enforcement. Now they want to help people like that.”
Ben Schock said it “means the world” to share the swearing-in ceremony with his family.
“I was proud just watching (Reese) taking the next step in what he wants to do,” he said. “This is one of my lifelong dreams, and for (Reese) to follow the same footsteps that I want to pursue is important.”
In Photos: Fort McCoy and Volk Field through the years
Governor Scott McCallum salutes Sergeant First Class Charles Zehner of the Wisconsin National Guard Second battalion 127th infantry based in Appleton, Wis. before presenting him with the Battalion Level Supply Excellence Award 200 during proceedings at the Governor’s Day Review at Fort McCoy.
Soldiers of the 1775th Military Police Company of the Michigan Army National Guard crawl under doors and windows while training at Fort McCoy’s urban warfare complex. PETER THOMSON photo
F-16 fighter jets fly over Fort McCoy during the Governor’s Day Review ceremony.
The annual Red Dragon chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear training excercise was held Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013, at Fort McCoy. Red Dragon is the Army Reserve’s only CBRN training excercise. (Rory O’Driscoll/La Crosse Tribune)
Staff Sgt. Aaron Brown, a member of the 458th Army Reserve Unit visits with his brother, Nick Brown, right, and his nephews, 2-week old Sawyer Brown and 14-month old Spencer Brown, at a send-off ceremony at the National Guard Armory in Onalaska, Wis. The 458th headed to Fort McCoy for training after the ceremony. PETER THOMSON photo
Members of the 32nd Military Police Company are given a send off Tuesday, March 18, 2003 as they move on to Fort McCoy prior to overseas deployment. The noon hour event was at the Wisconsin National Guard Headquarters, 2400 Wright St., in Madison, Wis. Pvt. Courtney Pfad, 19, got support from her stepfather James Tsikretsis, left, and mother Karen Tsikretsis, of Fort Atkinson. WSJ photo/Joseph W. Jackson III PUBLISHED CAPTION 3-19-03 Courtney Pfad, 19, gets hugs Tuesday from her stepfather, James Tsikretsis, and her mother, Karyn Tsikretsis, before leaving Madison for Fort McCoy.
Members of the 37th engineers out of Fort Bragg, N.C., parachute out of a C130 at Fort McCoy, Wis. The division is on it’s way to Nicaragua to build schools and health care clinics in Operation New Horizons. Erik Daily
Soldiers from the 829th Engineer Company listen to speakers during their deployment ceremony at Fort McCoy. The Wisconsin National Guard soldiers were heading to Afganistan to tear down buildings and recover unused equipment from past deployments.
Lt. Colonel Bryan Much, Commander of the Wisconsin National Guard 1st Battalion, 126th Field Artillery gives visitors to Fort McCoy an overview of the base during a tour of annual training exercises Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999.
A sign warns motorists traveling at Fort McCoy that a tank crossing is approaching, Monday August 12, 2002 at Fort McCoy, Wis.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul Honek, with the 229th Engineer Company, assigns soldiers their stations at the firing range at Fort McCoy. PETER THOMSON photo
Steve McQuaid, Darlington, Wis., and his fiance, Jacque Lauer, Wyocena, are reunited at Volk Field. 150 soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company returned from Iraq Friday, July 23, 2004, at Volk Field near Fort McCoy, Wis. WSJ/John Maniaci
Fort McCoy commander Col. Micheal R. Staszak. Dick Riniker photo
Scott Wood, of Madison, kisses his wife, Megan Tellijohn, after being reunited. 150 soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company returned from Iraq Friday, July 23, 2004, at Volk Field near Fort McCoy, Wis.
Members of the 147th make their way to waiting families Wednesday September 10, 2003, most of the 205 member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 147 Command Aviation Battalion who deployed to Kuwait in March 2003 returned to Volk Field.
Friends and family wait for soldier from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company, returning from Iraq Friday, July 23, 2004, at Volk Field.
10-year old Tyler Brudos of DeSoto, Wis., sits atop a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, complete with his dog tags and camouflaged face, while experiencing Armed Forces Day Open House at Fort McCoy
La Crosse Tribune reporter Steve Rundio can be reached at steve.rundio@lee.net.