St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith to retire in 2016
Updated: 4:10 p.m. | Posted: 1:40 p.m.
St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith announced Friday his plans to retire next year.
Smith has led the force since 2010. Mayor Chris Coleman appointed Smith after he spent 20 years working his way up in the department.
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"It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as Chief of Police for this great city," Smith said in a news release. "I cannot express in words how proud I am to have had the opportunity to lead such an exceptional department and work with so many dedicated and professional officers and civilian employees to keep Saint Paul safe for its citizens."
Under his leadership, St. Paul police officials say, the department has expanded its community outreach and youth intervention programs and developed a squad car camera program.
Jeff Martin, president of the St. Paul chapter of the NAACP, has worked with Smith to improve police-community relations. He believes Smith's experience as a beat cop helped in leading the force.
"The way I saw his management style he was going to meet the officers where they were and try to get them to where he wanted them to be," Martin said. "Sometimes he was successful in doing that, sometimes that work was not complete, and sometimes, and he'd be the first to own this, there were some failures in that area."
Mayor Coleman plans to announce next steps in the search for a new chief. Coleman said Friday he had planned to reappoint Smith for another six-year term.
The mayor called Smith a "very, very strong leader" and was able to handle questionable incidents properly.
"He's done the groundwork so that people know where his heart and his head were at, when there is any kind of allegation of misconduct," Coleman said.
During Smith's time as chief, the department saw a number of officer-involved shootings.
Metro Transit Police Chief and Smith's predecessor, John Harrington said it's a challenge to set the right balance between providing the community with details about officer-involved shootings and letting the investigation process take its course.
But he said Smith is one of the "finest tactical cops I've ever worked with" who was able to strike that balance.
"They're always tough, they're always judgment calls," he said. "You're pushed to want to support your officers, and at the same time you're also pushed to try and seek justice."