Mendota Chief of Police Tom Smith, center, is congratulated by Mendota Area Chamber of Commerce Director Jesse Arellano, left, and Chamber President Michelle Wade after being selected as grand marshal of the 2018 Sweet Corn Festival Parade. (Reporter photo by Jennifer Sommer)

MENDOTA - Tom Smith is being honored as the grand marshal of the 2018 Sweet Corn Festival Parade in Mendota. In announcing this year’s honoree, Michelle Wade, president of the Mendota Chamber, said Smith was selected for his service to the community and for helping to build a police department that can better serve the citizens of Mendota.

As Mendota Chief of Police, Smith is no stranger to the annual parade, since he led it 19 times in the last 20 years as police chief. Chamber director Jesse Arellano commented that throughout those years, Smith walked the route 18 times, missed one year, and rode once due to knee surgery. When asked if he would lead the 2018 parade as grand marshal, he graciously accepted saying that it would be a great honor.

Smith was born in Evanston and raised in Northbrook, the fifth of eight children born to Ray and Betty Smith. He attended Ridgewood High School in Norridge, where he became interested in law enforcement. After graduating in 1969, he attended Triton Community College and took classes in law enforcement.

While taking a semester off to earn money so he could continue his schooling, Smith was drafted into the military in the midst of the Vietnam War Era. He served in the U.S. Army from 1971-73 and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. He was released from the Army on Feb. 20, 1973 and returned to Mount Prospect, continuing his education at Harper College. While there, he took courses that he felt would be helpful, interesting and enjoyable in his field of study.

Smith married Nancy Alex in May of 1973. This year they celebrated 45 years of marriage with their two sons, Mark and his wife, Kristen, who now live in downtown Chicago with their daughter, Amelia, and Tom II and his wife, Kelly, who live with their two sons, Tom III “Trip” and Mitchell, in Westfield, Ind.

In 1975, Smith began working in law enforcement when he was hired as a patrolman by the Schaumburg Police Department. As his career there continued, he became a K-9 handler and advanced as a field training officer, in which he trained new officers. From there, he moved on to crime scene investigator, and then after being promoted to sergeant and working as patrol sergeant, he was assigned to Juvenile Investigator Sergeant and had nine detectives working under him.

Next, Smith became second in command of tech services for the Schaumburg department. In that position, he worked with the advancements in technology in the building, the radio room and squad cars and had 54 men and women under his command. In total, he spent 23 years with the Schaumburg police, a department of 250 employees.

At that point, Smith was 47 and thinking of possibly moving to a smaller town and taking a job as a police chief, where he could work until he was ready to retire. Although he was in no hurry to retire, the thought of moving to a smaller, slower paced community was appealing, so he sent out some resumes.

Smith came to Mendota on Dec. 1, 1997, after interviewing for the job as Mendota Police Chief with Mayor Steve Bowne and a hiring committee of 12. He was selected from 87 applicants for the job.

When Smith left the Schaumburg Police Department on Feb. 20, 1998, he had accrued the highest amount of police training hours on the force. A strong believer in education, this guiding principal served him well during his 23-year career in Schaumburg and continued to serve him and the officers of the Mendota Police Department as he moved forward in his new position as police chief.

Looking back, Smith said he felt blessed to be chosen as chief and felt a sense of belonging and being “at home” in Mendota. “Mendota has been good to me and my family,” he commented. “We were accepted right away. Nancy and I, along with our sons have made many good friends in the community.”

In his first year as chief, the Mendota Police Department received the 1st Place Award for Traffic Safety from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), as well as the “Rookie of the Year” award. The MPD has received seven awards from the IACP in the last 20 years.

Also in that year, the department got the 2^nd Place Award for Traffic Safety from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (ILACP). MPD has received award recognition from the ILACP nine times in the past 20 years, with the latest being the Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Specialty Award for 2017, which will be presented to the department in August at the ILACP Conference.

One award that Chief Smith and his officers are particularly proud of also came in 1998. That year, MPD received the top award from Triple A, an international award for innovative programs within the police department. Mendota tied with New York City for this award.

One of the first programs Chief Smith supported was an effort by Mendotan Audrey McConville to create a Crime Stoppers program in Mendota. Now in place for almost 20 years, Crime Stoppers has served the community well.

In 2003, Smith graduated from the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, School of Staff and Command. This 10-week course is recognized throughout the world as one of the top three advanced police management courses. Since then the Mendota Police Department has sent all of its command officers to this course. “By sending these supervisors we are preparing for the future,” Chief Smith noted. “Law enforcement is forever changing and we must have highly trained personnel to run a professional police department that our citizens demand and deserve.”

Under Smith’s leadership, the department has applied for $1 million in grants for technology, equipment and manpower. The MPD was the first in the Illinois Valley, along with the Streator Police Department, to have laptop computers in their squad cars. The MPD was also the first in the State of Illinois to use body cameras on officers. 

Other programs started by Smith in Mendota include the “Bike Rodeos,” the Officer Friendly Program, Community Policing Program, and a Bike Patrol. He also started the School Resource Officer Program.

In 2010, the MPD became involved in the Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program (P2D2) with the installation of a “Drug drop off box” in the Mendota Police Department lobby.

Recently, MPD was involved in the centralization of dispatch services, now called ValCom, with LaSalle, Oglesby, Peru and Mendota as charter members. During the day, a dispatcher is on duty in Mendota but at all times, 911 calls go to ValCom in Peru. From that hub, the 911 calls are dispatched to first responders in their respective communities throughout the county.

The Mendota Police Department is also very involved with Illinois Special Olympics. This worthwhile organization has created an atmosphere and venue where people with special needs can overcome their disabilities and shine. In the last three years alone, the Mendota Police Department has raised $64,784.70 thanks to the efforts of its officers.

Smith is currently the president of the Kiwanis Club of Mendota and has participated in many fundraisers including “Peanut Day” and sweet corn sales with this group. Funds raised by Kiwanis go 100 percent to Mendota youth activities. Smith also is a member of the Mendota Elks Lodge 1212, which named him “Citizen of the Year” 2007-2008 for his service to the community. He has also held memberships in the Mendota Rotary and Mendota Lions clubs, where he also donated his time for fundraisers.

A past president of the Illinois Valley Association of Chiefs of Police, Smith now holds the office of secretary/treasurer. He has served as the chairman of TRIDENT, the drug enforcement task force for this area for 18 years, and is vice-chairman of the Illinois Valley Crime Prevention Commission, an organization he has been a part of for 19 years.

In addition, Smith helped to create the Children’s Advocacy Center, which interviews abused children and gives them a voice, and he has served on the executive board of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police for 10 years.

Smith and his wife, Nancy, enjoy traveling and playing golf. He is also very interested in photography, a hobby that led him to join with Sgt. John Myers in 2000 to create a business called Photo Line-Up. The business does everything from wedding photography to senior photos, as well as capturing life events and memories for families throughout the area.

Currently, the MPD employs 15 full-time sworn officers, five part-time officers and two full-time civilians. The Mendota Police Department began on Aug.14, 1894 and in 2019, they will celebrate their 125^th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, officers will proudly wear new badges specially designed by Chief Smith for this historic event.

When asked about a memorable moment from Mendota’s Annual Sweet Corn Festival, Smith says there many “memorable moments” of course – some good, some stressful, some funny. One that came to mind was the time when he and Lt. Lonnie Kent were reviewing the carnival games before the show opened. They came upon a booth with a slot machine, that when a child put in coins and pulled the handle, a small prize would be awarded. Smith did not want the kids of Mendota learning to gamble and told the vendor he wanted the machines closed down and gone from the midway. The vendor began to argue the decision, saying that this game was no different than the others, and if it had to go, they had to go. 

Smith knew it was no different than the “duck game,” it was also a game of chance, but it gave the kids a feeling they were gambling “for real,” something he did not want to promote. Smith knew the carnival owner and told him in front of the vendor, that since this game was promoting gambling to the kids, and since it was the same as all the other games on the midway that the Mendota Police would have to close all the midway games. The carnival owner took his vendor aside and in a few minutes Smith and Kent saw the vendor running down the street with the “slot machine” under his arm.

As is customary during the Sweet Corn Festival, Smith and the members of his department will stroll down the midway and enjoy meeting old friends, the same as everyone else. The festival will be a chance to greet old friends, meet the vendors and introduce new officers to the citizens of Mendota. 

Smith does not want to take credit for what he feels is one of the best police departments anywhere, saying his officers are the ones who implement the programs he brings forth. He emphasizes that the officers, past and present, many with over 20 years of experience, have helped to create an outstanding police force.

“On the average, an officer in a small department stays for four years and then moves on,” Smith pointed out. “I feel blessed to have five officers with 20 or more years of experience, along with many good and dedicated officers and employees. I have had a good working relationship with Mayor David Boelk and the city council members and fantastic support from the businesses and citizens of Mendota. This situation is seldom seen in larger communities.”

On Feb. 20, 2019, Chief Tom Smith will retire after 43 years in law enforcement. “There are not enough words to express how much of an honor it has been to have served as Mendota’s Police Chief for 21 years,” he said. “The community and businesses have made Mendota ‘The World’s Greatest Little City.’” 

Tom and Nancy plan to continue to live in their small town and enjoy their friends and an occasional round of golf for the foreseeable future.

The Mendota Area Chamber of Commerce invites the citizens of Mendota to join the Smiths and their family on Aug. 12 for the Sweet Corn Festival Grand Parade to congratulate and wish them well with Chief Smith leading the Grand Parade for the 20^th and final time as Mendota’s Chief of Police.