Sam Smith, voted the Kern Valley Exchange Club's Officer of the Year for 2006 in February, was recently promoted from Sheriff's deputy to Senior Deputy Officer/Investigator.
Smith has been with the Sheriff's Department for 18 years and has worked the last 14 years in the Kern Valley.
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“I believe wholeheartedly that this is what I was meant to do,” said Smith.
Smith was a key officer in the two biggest law enforcement incidents in the Kern Valley last year; the chimpanzee incident, where four caged chimps escaped and became violent, and an Amber Alert where Smith single-handedly apprehended a man who had stabbed three people before fleeing to Walker Basin with his two small children, whom he was planning to kill at an Indian burial ground. Because of Smith, those two children are still alive today.
As a certified drug recognition expert, Smith works to rid our valley of drug users. He believes that with more people moving here, more crime will come, as well. “Everything stems from drugs; domestic violence, property crimes, violence. It's inevitable. The more we can curb the drug problem, lower the crime stats will be,” Smith said.
Smith believes that effective law enforcement is dependent upon having a solid relationship with the community.
“In order for law enforcement to operate efficiently, there has to be community involvement with an exchange of information; without that our job is severely handicapped so good rapport with the public is paramount,” Smith explained.
Prior to becoming a deputy, Smith worked in the jail system in Bakersfield at Lerdo and the downtown jail, and also served stints as a bailiff and court guard.
He came to the Kern Valley on a voluntary transfer because had family here, and says that Lake Isabella is “the most preferred substation in Kern County because of the lake and mountains.”
Smith said that he had never intended to go into law enforcement; he had a good job in construction 20 years ago when he overheard a commercial during a spontaneous road trip he had taken that Kern County was testing for reserve sheriff's deputies.
The advertisement explained what it meant to be a reserve Sheriff's deputy and thought it sounded interesting so he jotted down the date and time. Smith decided out of the blue to take the test and he passed, and then passed the oral interview. The interviewer liked his thought process and told him he would make a fine candidate and asked him to join the academy, which he did.
Three years later, he was asked to join the academy again, this time to become a full-time Sheriff's deputy. Smith made the life-changing decision to quit his job and devote himself to law enforcement, a decision he has never regretted.
“This is the greatest thing in the world; I never thought I could have so much fun,” said Smith.
Around the time Smith began his full-time career in law enforcement, he met his future wife, who was also in law enforcement until she recently retired. One of his proudest accomplishments in life outside of law enforcement is being a happily married man for 16 years this month. He and his wife have three kids and four grandkids, who are scattered around the country but visit as much as possible.
Smith is involved in many youth programs in the Valley, including DARE, Camp KEEP, KRV valley youth golf clinic, summer school HOPE after school program, KRV Exchange Club crime prevention program, and he also works as a school resource officer. Smith received the KRV Collaborative Children First Award and the Kiwani's Club of Bakersfield Officer of the Year award in 2002.
The only worry that Smith has regarding his recent promotion is the chance that he will be transferred away from the Kern Valley.
“I'd hate to see that happen. I work and live here and want to stay here; this is my town,” he said.
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