They've been best friends since birth. Two Woodhaven police officers have spent their childhood together and then joined the force.
Now, they are both retiring this week.
Lt. Ken Crum said, "Well it's a big week, we are retiring on the same day, the 31st."
He and Deputy Chief Duane Ratcliff have been friends for 50 years. That's because their fathers were buddies and the two grew up together since they were babies.
They played Little League together and stood up in each other's wedding.
Duane became a Woodhaven police officer first and then Ken followed, even though his best friend told him to not to.
"I was serious, dead serious. I tried to convince him to do something else," Duane said.
After spending 25 years on the force, the two are retiring, but not before looking back.
"You fight. You don't get along and sometimes it comes to pushing and shoving, but at the end of the day, there isn't anything we wouldn't do for each other when it comes down to it," Ken explained.
"Had a picture of a log cabin in Tennessee and I put it in his mailbox one day and said this is going to be us after we retire and it just had a couple of rocking chairs," Duane said.
They both credit their wives for their success.
Ken said, "Always been supportive of us and that's what's really helped us through our career."
Even though they've been brothers in blue, they will continue their friendship in their golden years.
"It's been a long journey for both of us and hopefully we got quite a few more to go," Ken added.
To celebrate retirement, Ken will take a road trip in his RV and Duane will be going on a cruise.
