Gary Smith knows he could be bringing something of a perception problem with him to Emporia.
There are the clashes with the city administrator of Northfield, Minn., as well as the criminal investigation of that official that Smith initiated. There’s also the timing of Smith’s extended medical leave from his job as Northfield police chief that coincided with those events.
All those factors are causing some to question whether Smith, finally hired as Emporia’s new police chief on Thursday, is really the right man for the job.
But Smith, describing himself as outspoken, upfront and honest, has plenty to say about all the questions people are asking.
“Actually, it’s probably good that that came (to light) prior to my arrival,” he said, speaking specifically of the investigation of Northfield City Administrator Al Roder. “I think it (provided) a chance for people to kind of talk it out. I certainly will be happy to discuss that with some people.”
Smith, who will start as chief on Jan. 7, takes the job after the city’s original choice, Clark Morrow, withdrew his acceptance on Nov. 26. Smith brings 26 years of law enforcement experience to the job, including the last eight and a half as Northfield’s chief. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a master’s from the University of Alabama. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Despite those extensive credentials, the questions from Northfield will follow Smith to his new job: What was his relationship with city officials, as well as his law enforcement colleagues? Was his extended medical leave legitimate, or a way to ease out of his job?
One potential turning point in Smith’s tenure in Northfield came July 3, when he called a news conference in which he announced that 150 to 200 youths in Northfield were abusing heroin and OxyContin. The Northfield News reported that the relationship between Smith and Roder was especially strained after that.
But Smith said that controversial news conference resulted in a good response from the community to the needs of the young people, including school district policy changes.
“Sometimes, you have to be the lightning rod,” Smith said. “But it was my concern that we were worsening the lives of children unnecessarily, and it was time to have an admitted dialogue.”
Smith said the criminal investigation of Roder began with a citizen complaint.
That investigation was turned over to the Rice County attorney and now is in the hands of the Goodhue County sheriff’s office, where it remains ongoing. Smith said he couldn’t reveal what crimes Roder was being investigated for.
“What I usually tell people, my philosophy is as a law enforcement officer, I enforce the law equally,” he said. “I don’t care who you are. If you’re the king of England and you do something wrong, you’re going to be treated the same way as the neighbor down the street.”
He said the medical leave he has been on since mid-July was the result of three separate surgeries. Smith said he had put off taking care of his medical needs for awhile because he was busy with police department business and wasn’t listening to what his doctors were telling him.
“The timing wasn’t very good, I suppose,” he said. “Because there are those who are speculating, obviously, that with the heroin conference and all that stuff, that I left. Well, it’s just the way it worked out.”
What about Smith’s relationship with the police department?
“It’s like any organization,” he said. “You’ll find some people who think I do an excellent job, and there’s some people who probably think I do an OK job, and there’s probably some people who would like to see me leave. ...
“You have to plan what the policy-makers want done, what the community wants done and what the needs of the department are. And that’s really the chief’s role, I think, more than anything else: Communicating and meeting those goals. I have a policy of sometimes, you agree to disagree.”
Smith has spent most of his life living in either Kansas or Nebraska and still has family in the Sunflower State. He last lived in Kansas when he was 12 years old, when he was a Dodge City resident.
“My dad was an air traffic controller, so we moved around a lot,” he said.
Smith graduated from high school in Hastings, Neb. His law enforcement career began when he joined the force in Grand Island, Neb., in 1981. He stayed in Grand Island for 18 years before moving on to Northfield.
Emporia City Manager Matt Zimmerman said last week that he thought Smith was just as strong a candidate for the job as Morrow. In addition to his time in the FBI National Academy, Smith has also attended the bureau’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Program. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and serves on its Image and Ethics Committee.
Smith said he did a lot of research on both the Emporia community and the department.
“The department has a good reputation for being a good law enforcement agency and working well with the community and surrounding areas. I’m just looking forward to getting there and getting to meet everybody ... learn the ropes and see what we can do for the community.”
He has been married 25 years and has two children in high school.
“We talked about this, my wife and I — we see Emporia as a place where we’re going to stay,” he said. “We’re both at the point in our careers where we wanted to find a place that was comfortable, and a neat place where we could kind of finish out our careers. So we’ll be there probably until we retire.”
When he takes the job, Smith will become the city’s first permanent police chief in more than a year. Interim Chief Mike Lopez has held the job since last December, when Mike Heffron resigned.
NorthfieldMNinfo (anonymous) says...
I would challenge Smith to name one person at the Northfield Police Department who thought he did an "OK" job let alone an "excellent" job. The department was in chaos nearly his entire eight years in Northfield. There has been about a 50% turnover in officers since he started. He drove good young officers away, and a sergeant left to start over and become a patrol officer in a different department. It's a character issue with Smith, I once witnessed him talking to police department employees about an employee who was on vacation. He was belittling the employee on vacation for taking a vacation. How would anyone like the boss talking behind their back about taking a week off?That's the kind of person he is. Like I said before, good luck, you'll need it.
December 7, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spectator (anonymous) says...
Well, Mr Lightning Rod, I'd be interested to know how that attitude directly affected the morale of everyone connected with the police department, sworn or civilian. They have to live and function under the scope of, and reactions to, your opinions. City of Emporia employee morale in general is already pretty poor and the EPD is going to suffer even more if a previous post is anything close to being remotely accurate. I'm willing to give you a chance but I have witnessed character assassination such as talking behind someone's back [as with the vacation issue]; it's not something a supervisor should ever do. It is petty, substandard and should be beneath the dignity of ANY supervisor. But then, you might fit in well with one or two of your new subordinate supervisors. Pity the EPD.
December 7, 2007 at 4:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Well, such harsh words, not surprisingly what you said are events that either didnt happen, or were taken out of context. Of course, in any police department you will find people who didnt agree with the chief or didnt like him, Smith has been in Northfield for nearly 9 years, you dont stay that long in a small town like that if you are disliked.
Now, some people in Northfield dislike him because he is an honest guy, what you see is what you get and he doesnt beat around the bush. Some people just arent able to handle a "controversial" guy like that. I think it is sad that today's society has become so politically correct that some people have difficulty handling a guy that tells the truth too much.
Smith will be good for the Emporia police, he may clean house in the department, if people cant handle Smith than they probably should move on. If a sergeant in Northfield moved on to another agency, big deal, people move on all the time, some younger officers moved on, probably more so they could move to a bigger more challenging agency than because of a problem with Smith.
This whole tirade against Smith on your part sounds like sour grapes. Could it be you dont like Smith because he admitted your town has a drug problem? The truth hurts sometimes doesnt it?
December 7, 2007 at 9:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
NorthfieldMNinfo (anonymous) says...
Like I said it's a character issue with Smith. In a December 1st story in the Star Tribune Smith says he applied for the Emporia job in July before he went on medical leave. On the December 8th Star Tribune story he says he applied for the job in August. He can't get his facts straight, kind of like the infamous heroingate press conference. Get used to it, he says one thing, changes his story, and it will always be somebody elses fault. An egomaniac can do no wrong. One other thing you'll learn real fast, the only thing he can talk about is himself.
December 8, 2007 at 4:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gabby (anonymous) says...
this town is fallin apart, one piece at a time. Maybe they are doing this to draw attention away from the samolies. Does anyone wonder what the real reason the last police cheif they hired didn't show up? He probably started checkin us out and realized we're fallin apart and he was better off staying where he was. no kidding!
December 8, 2007 at 7:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Well, Smith, people in Northfield, some people that cant or wont accept the truth of their town, threw him under the bus because he actually told the truth and admitted there was a serious drug problem amongst the city's youth.
Smith talks more than just about himself, hell, he talked about how the city had a drug problem, if he was just interested in himself, I am sure he wouldnt have admitted at a public press conference that he called to admit that the city has a serious drug problem amongst its youth. He was concerned about the city and where it was going, and the fact that he was the only city official to admit the city has a drug problem.
But in typical Northfield fashion he got thrown under the bus for admitting that the town had a drug problem, some residents and almost all city officials were angry at him because they are either unable or unwilling to admit their town has a serious drug problem.
Part of your problem, is you are basing what was said about Smith, on the Star Tribune. First off, Smith has always said he applied for that job in August. Before that he had been a finalist for the chief's job in Lakeville but didnt get the job. The Star Tribune made the error of him claiming that he had applied for the job before the press conference.
The Star Tribune really isnt a reliable source of information especially on stories pertaining to law enforcement since the paper is a well known liberal paper and they tend to be anti law enforcement and their views of law enforcement are quite skeptical and negative so as a result all their stories have a negative spin to them a majority of time the Star Tribune's articles are misleading with a lot of half truths and some even outright lies.
December 9, 2007 at 1:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
boy this is turning into a scandel, dont think that is application date would be on his application and thats not up for public view. he was also interviewed by respected people in the emporia community, not just zimmerman, so why is everyone on here dragging him down? i read in the northfield news yesterday in the opinon section that during his years at northfield, the city had five different city administrators, that would mean the city has its own issues. i would think it hard to work under those circumstances.
December 9, 2007 at 9:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Yeah, Northfield, as I have mentioned in this and other stories on this topic, does have a lot of problems. Particularly with drugs as I have mentioned, the problem is, pretty much everyone knows that Northfield has a drug problem except for the people that live in Northfield it seems like. If you work for the city and admit that town has a drug problem, you get thrown under the bus.
I think people that live in Northfield, like to think it is like a larger version of Mayberry or something and the fact of the matter is, there is a serious drug problem in Northfield and htis problem is made worse by the city officials and a lot of the people that live in Northfield being either unable or unwilling to do anything about it.
If all these lies that the haters of Chief Smith are spreading were true, Smith would never have even been a finalist for the chief's job in Emporia or anywhere else for that matter. Smith and this Captain from Olathe that was originally accepted the job but then backed out, were not the only applicants for this job, there might have been as much as 30 original applicants before the list was whittled down to two, then Chief Smith got his chance to go to Emporia when the guy from Olathe backed out.
December 9, 2007 at 9:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
northfieldMNinfo is obviously the gossip of the town, small towns each have their quirks, and the gossip and ignoring the drug issue is northfields quirk. we have meth in town,but nobody denies it, i-35 gets used by drug trafficers who are traveling across country, and the local police have learned how to spot them, so we have big drug busts on i-35 from time to time, but that is stuff that is usually intended to go past emporia. i can say they have gotten skilled at spotting the druggies going by. gabby is right, the guy from olathe might have started reading our online postings and gotten cold feet about the job, anyone who wants to get along in emporia can without feeling like they are being chased away.
December 9, 2007 at 3:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Well Northfield is a few miles east of I-35 here in Minnesota, yes I-35 is used by drug runners. Northfield's drug problem though is more because of how close it is to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. But the fact that it is along I-35 also plays a part in the drug problem.
I was surprised when I read about the guy from Olathe that had taken the job but then backed out at the last minute, claiming "family issues." That is the most routine excuse in the book and basically is the excuse people use when they dont want to give the real reason.
Clearly something made him back out of the job offer after he had accepted it. But who knows what it was? I have a hard time believing a guy would back out of a job just because of what a bunch of people he doesnt know are saying in an online blog. But anything is possible I suppose.
December 9, 2007 at 4:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
NorthfieldMNinfo (anonymous) says...
I'm just trying to give Emporia a heads up on what to expect out of Smith. I could recount several more incidents where rational citizens would shake their heads and say, "What was he thinking"? The bottom line was that he lost all support and confidence in Northfield between the Police Department, the City Council, and finally the public. I give Smith 3 years before Emporia runs him out of town.
December 9, 2007 at 5:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
i have faith that northfield will solve its drug problem
December 9, 2007 at 7:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
None of you have the guts to say who you are. If you are going to try to destroy the man have the balls to own up to your words. Northfield has a drug problem, and many other problems. This town likes to sweep everything under the rug, but it's time to clean house and get rid of the phonies & corrupt people out of the police dept. & city hall. Chief Smith has not lost all support, and yes he is not a perfect man & has probably made alot of mistakes like everybody else. Emporia will not get a perfect man, but a good man. Gary go with God speed!
December 13, 2007 at 11:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe_Strummer (anonymous) says...
Lisa
Did you even read all the previous posts??
Doesn't sound like everyone is trying to "destroy the man." Sounds like people are on both sides.
December 13, 2007 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Sad to say he will have a hard time here due to the officers are underpaid and under staff. We have some Criminals moving here because they think Emporia is easy Prey!
December 13, 2007 at 2:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
You are right Joe.
December 13, 2007 at 5:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seenitall (anonymous) says...
Are you wondering why someone from Northfield has taken the time to post a comment trashing Gary Smith? Seems a little strange that they bear him such ill will that they want to follow him to Emporia with their rants.
Gary's tenure in the Northfield PD resulted in a much more professional attitude toward the public on the part of his officers. He was very big on training and doing a good job. Not to say that some of those officers weren't good, but as another poster said, many in Northfield seemed to think that the town would be Mayberry forever, in spite of a huge growth in population, gangs, etc. Gary had to courage to try to inform the town about the truth of what quite a few of the young people of the town were involved with. In response, people covered their ears and were furious that something bad was said about our "wonderful town". A local blogger added to the fray with self-serving blogs which seemed to want to be Northfield's National Enquirer.
Yes, we have problems, but Gary Smith is not the problem. Many of us are really sad to see him leave.
I've visited Emporia. It's a nice place and I'm envious. You're getting a great chief.
December 13, 2007 at 7:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
im glad we are getting someone who is willing to stand up for the youth of the community, regardless of the trashing he would get for it.
December 13, 2007 at 9:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Gary will not only stand up for the youth, but he will either put away the drug dealers or run them out of Emporia. Prepare for house cleaning. Don't expect Andy Griffith!
December 14, 2007 at 10:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
no our little town isnt mayberry anymore, still a quiet town, but there are some issues with drugs, vandalism and breakins
December 14, 2007 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Slipandslide ,
Northfield has the same issues. All the breakins pay for their drug habit. Sounds like Gary is going to be dealing with the same mess, but in a larger population.
December 14, 2007 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
yeah same thing is just a different town. i doubt anyone can say their town dont have some of the same troubles though.
December 14, 2007 at 4:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mythoughts (anonymous) says...
Wow! If Smith can do something about this area's RAMPANT drug and gang problem, I, for one, will be THRILLED.
December 14, 2007 at 8:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Mythoughts,
Drugs & gang issues are everywhere, but I can tell you alot of them were busted in Northfield. Gary was in the process of starting a campaign here "Not in my back yard" before he took a medical leave. The campaign needs all the concerned citizens to get involved and work with the law enforcement regarding what they notice in their neighborhood. I know what a meth lab looks & smells like and I have no problem reporting it. Get involved & encourage others to do the same & in time you will have a healthier community.
December 14, 2007 at 11:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
they can use the money they confiscate like the 21,000 from this week to use for drug prevention. i had a couple of neighbors over the years that complained about chemical smell coming from a neighbors house, but they didnt know it was meth, sometimes i think if people were given a chance to smell it, they would reconize it and report it.our public schools started drug and alcohol education as early as first grade, they teach them the ill effects of drugs alchohol and cigarettes and they had all my kids turned agaist smoking while they were in grade school! the education works and i my personal opinion there are less drugs with the kids because of it, but drugs are still here. the crime that goes with it keeps getting worse. i moved from a neighborhood that i had lived in for years because my gas was being siphoned so often, even had it siphoned when had a locking gas cap on it ( i gave up at that point), car vandalism and my home had been broken into. the high school has so many activities for the kids that any kid who is bored in high school has chosen not to get involved in something. there is something for everyone there.
December 14, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
Lisa, kansas passed a law that restricts the sale of allergy medicines, they have an ingredient in them that is used to make meth, the medicines are kept behind the counter and the pharmacists keep records of everyone buying them and i think there is a limit on how many someone can buy i read in a bigger paper that it has cut back on the number of meth labs.maybe northfield could try something like this. if you are interested in the emporians for drug awareness program that is used here, i can get some infor on it and email it.
December 15, 2007 at 9:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
If I'm correct that passed in every state. It has cut alot of meth labs here, but now it's heroine & crack. Drug addicts will always find a drug that's available, or create one.
December 15, 2007 at 12:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
yeah your right. i didnt know it was a law in every state.
December 15, 2007 at 12:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Hey Lisa, I am glad you and I agree about Chief Smith, he is a good man. Same to you Seenitall, you have the correct opinion on Chief Smith. Smith told the truth about the drug problem in Northfield and he got thrown under the bus as a result and it is sad.
As I said above, in Northfield, there is a serious drug problem that is made in worse in part by the government of the city and many of the residences of the city being either unable or unwilling to admit there is a drug problem, so obviously nothing can be done about this problem until people are willing to own up to the fact a problem exists.
People in Northfield, seem to think their town is like Mayberry or something and it just isnt that way anymore and hasnt been for sometime. There has been rapid population growth there because it isnt a far drive from the Twin Cities metro area and a lot of people are moving to Northfield from the suburbs because they want a smaller town. This close proximity to the Twin Cities also plays a huge part in the ever growing drug problem in Northfield.
Heck, there was a murder not far from Northfield in 2004 that was drug related I am sure that is still unsolved. But that was outside of Northfield in a rural area so that was the sheriff's department's jurisdiction and not the Northfield PD's.
I wish Chief Smith the best in Emporia and hopefully he gets treated better there than he did in Northfield. What Northfield needs to do is get rid of their city administrator and their mayor for that matter, both are slimeballs but for different reasons. I hope Northfield hires their next chief from outside the department but I wouldnt be surprised if they promote a good ole boy from in house to be chief, most likely the interim chief who is a Captain and career Northfield cop.
Finally, I wouldnt take a lot of these haters seriously, they are probably pals of some of these career Northfield cops who still have sour grapes all these years later over an outsider in Smith getting hired Chief over them. That is how these guys get, they think they work for the department for 20 or more years and they think they are somehow entitled to become Chief just based on that.
December 15, 2007 at 1:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Sir,
I couldn't say it any better regarding Roder & Lansing. They need to go with a few others. Will you be at Gary's farewell party Monday?
December 15, 2007 at 5:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
NorthfieldMNinfo were you at Gary Smith's reception today or perhaps the one that gave him the Judas kiss ?
December 17, 2007 at 5:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Youareallmorons (anonymous) says...
I read these comments and my blood just boils. None of you actually know the truth, but either are ignorant or think you possess the knowledge. None of you do, and those that know are driven crazy by your ridiculous remarks. All I can say is good luck Emporia.
December 17, 2007 at 10:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Well Mr.Moron,
If you know so much as your prideful statement, acknowledge who you are and state the facts or do like the others and walk away with your little tail between your legs.
December 18, 2007 at 1:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MinnesotaMan22 (anonymous) says...
Well that was rather cowardly what "youareallmorons" said. Why dont you identify who you are? Oh wait, you wont do that, you are a typical hater, ripping on Chief Smith without any evidence to back up the hate and allegations you are spewing.
Heck, you are so cowardly you wont even say who you are. Do you work for the police department? Are you the interim chief? Are you one of these other guys who was ticked that Smith was hired as chief over you nearly 9 years ago?! Here is a tip, get over it, Smith was hired as chief, he is now moving on to a bigger and better place as he deserves too, I wish him nothing but the best there and I know he will do well for the city of Emporia.
You haters though are so cowardly, spewing your hate with nothing to back up all the unfounded allegations except for speculation and innuendo. You are probably a life long Northfield cop, ticked off that an outsider in Smith was made chief over you and you have been harboring sour grapes ever since.
Some of these life long cops can be the worst, dead beat cops on the force, yet they think because they have been on the department for 20, 25 years that it somehow entitles them to be chief.
December 22, 2007 at 7:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LisaGuidry42 (anonymous) says...
Well said MinnesotaMan22.
December 23, 2007 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )