Former South Bruce OPP commander set to retire at end of March

After 30 years as a police officer, inspector Scott Smith is looking forward to Freedom 55.

The former South Bruce OPP detachment commander is set to retire March 27.
 

Smith started his policing career with the Peel Regional Police in 1984. He joined the OPP in 1988, reporting to the Picton OPP detachment. He then served 12-and-a-half years in northern Ontario, working in Superior East which includes White River, Hornepayne, Chapleau and Wawa detachments. 

In 2005, he reported to the Wellington County detachment as a staff sergeant, and in May, 2009, he was promoted to the rank of inspector and became detachment commander.
 

Three years later, he came to Kincardine, working at the South Bruce OPP detachment from mid-September, 2008, to the first of January, 2009. He returned at the first of March, 2012, as acting detachment commander when Paul Holmes was assigned to the G-8 summit in Huntsville.
 

Aug. 4, 2014, he was assigned to develop a mental-health strategy for the OPP province-wide. Dana Earley became detachment commander before she was also re-assigned, and the current detachment commander is acting inspector Wayne Thompson.

Smith holds an honours psychology degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and believes strongly in crime prevention.

Therefore, he is the ideal candidate to put together a strategy to better train police officers in dealing with individuals who suffer from mental health issues.

“It's been a lot of work,” he says, “but I'm going to get the strategy piece done and then somebody else will be implementing it.”
 

He says the landscape of mental health keeps changing. “Officers are dealing with these individuals who are committing criminal activity or who are the victims or just people in crisis. We get called to the scene of an incident, and we need to have proper training. We also need to have stronger relationships with the mental health service providers.”

Smith says the whole scope of mental health is an interesting dynamic in rural Ontario where people are struggling to make ends meet. They are told there are services available, he says, but for example, there's a single mom who is working full-time and not well-paid. She has to drive to access those services but how does she justify the cost when she can barely put food on the table?
 

Working on the strategy has been a real educational process for Smith.

“I've spent 30 years as an officer working in many different communities,” he says. “That allows me a major understanding of the issues and the challenges, so I can develop a strategy to help front-line officers.”

Smith plans to have the strategy completed by the end of March when he retires.
 

He decided to retire because he's been an officer for three decades.

“The career can take a toll on you,” he says. “I'm 55; I want to retire when I can still enjoy myself. I was always told to get out before I was past my best-before date!”

Former South Bruce OPP detachment commander inspector Scott Smith (R) led the way for his fellow officers by sporting a shiny pair of red high heels for the "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" campaign

One highlight of his career, says Smith, was putting on a pair of red high heels and joining in the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” campaign with his fellow officers, in support of two local women's shelters.

“That certainly drew a lot of attention,” says Smith, with a laugh.
 

He says he became a police officer because he wanted to help people, and make a difference.

“After you've been at this job for awhile, you get jaded,” he says. “You're trying to keep people safe but you can help people only if they want to be helped. Often, people don't always know they're being helped.”

Smith says the public should be glad to see an officer taking a break or getting a coffee, because then they know their community is safe. Otherwise, officers are all over the place and there is a lot of criminal activity in your community.
 

He is proud of the many accomplishments over the years. “When I arrived at the Wellington OPP detachment, that area was the 15^th safest community in Ontario; we worked to make it No. 1.”

When he arrived at the South Bruce OPP detachment, the crime rate was higher than it should have been, says Smith. “We established a Safe Communities Committee, promoting change in all five communities served by South Bruce OPP. That's what gives me the most satisfaction.”
 

As for the worst moment in his career, Smith says it happened in 1995 while he was stationed in Wawa. “I was running radar traffic control at 3 p.m., and heard on the radio there had been a serious accident on the highway we were patrolling. Turns out, a lady fell asleep and her SUV drove over a pick-up truck, killing the mom, dad, grandmother and three children inside. I remember when they pulled out the little three-year-old boy, he was the same age as my youngest son, and I just sat down and cried. That was the most traumatic thing that ever happened to me, and it has stayed with me all these years.”
 

So, what will Smith miss the most when he retires?

“You make a lot of great friends in the various communities,” he says, “working with service providers and council members, and the many relationships throughout the community. I will miss those.”

What he won't miss is the attitude of some people toward the police. “There's a lack of understanding about what we do and why we do it. People have an unrealistic expectation of what police can do. We can't solve crimes in 15 minutes – it's not like police shows. We don't get a whole lot of that in Bruce County.”

He also won't miss the political aspect of policing. “We know policing is expensive, but it's cheaper than what the province spends on the education system or health care.”
 

After he retires, Smith plans to take some time to decompress. He wants to travel throughout Canada, and then look at what else he would like to do with his life. He says he might even be on the golf course April 1 which would be a real laugh!

Smith lives in Hanover with his wife and two grown sons.