still remembers his first meeting with
21-year-old Smithee.
“I could see that he really wanted to
be a reserve with us, he had that desire
to work for us,” Giusiana said.
“He has such a strong core belief
that if you have the right ethics and you
have the right morals, you make the
right decisions and that’s how he’s lived
his life.”
Smithee discovered his love for the
job as a reserve officer. “I think any-
time you can do something or you are
able to help somebody, especially if
it’s a traumatic type of a situation and
you think you can make a positive
difference, that just leaves you with a
feeling inside that you can’t replicate
any other way,” Smithee said.
After graduating from the police
academy, he was hired by the Gilroy
Police Department in June of 1986.
By 1997, he’d achieved the rank of
Captain. He continued as Captain,
overseeing the police department’s field
operations, Special Operations, and
Administration, until his retirement
in July of 2015. That allowed him to
devote more time to teaching at the
police academy.
Six months later, he was asked to
return to the force as interim Police
Chief. Smithee accepted but made it
clear that he “wouldn’t be applying for
the permanent position.”
Brenda knew better. “Honestly, by
February I knew that he was going to
stay, and he hadn’t even been asked at
that point.”
It seemed as though everyone who
knew Smithee thought he was the right
man for the job.
“The support from the department,
from the city, and from community
members, was frankly overwhelming,”
Smithee said, explaining that he would
find fliers for the Chief’s job all over his
office.
On August 1, he was sworn in before
a big crowd at New Hope Community
Church as Gilroy’s Chief of Police.
“Scot really knows community,” Jay
Baksa, retired Gilroy City Administrator,
said. “He knows everybody and he
knows how it’s supposed to function.
He also knows the dynamic of the law
enforcement issues in Gilroy. So you
got a chief coming in here immediately
hitting the ground running. That’s an
enormous leg up for the community.”
“I think the more people get to know
us and the more people we engage with
in a non-enforcement role, the better
it is because I think that develops the
trust and that develops the confidence
in the community,” Smithee said, adding
that he takes his new role very seriously
and knows that now, as Chief, he is
“responsible for everything.”
“As a Captain, I’m focused down in
the organization, how we’re providing
the service, are we being efficient and
effective in what we’re trying to do?”
Smithee said. “As the Chief, you’re more
focused outward from the department.
I interact more with the community.
It’s almost like an interface between the
functioning part of the department and
all the rest of the world.”
Giusiana believes Smithee is the
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
perfect man for the job. “He really
believes in Gilroy, he’s part of Gilroy. This
community has got some very unique
and special things about it that are very
positive and he fits right in with all of it.”
“If I can help to make this
community a better place, if I can help
to solve problems and make people’s
lives better then I’m willing to do what-
ever it is that I can do within my power
to bring that to fruition. That really
is my motivation,” Smithee said. “My
expectation is that everything we do,
we’re doing it to make this a better place
and as long as that’s the end goal then
OK, I’m good with that.”
“Scot will be a great Police Chief. He
has the true heart of a servant. Scot will
continue to build on the organization
he helped establish over the past three
decades. He knows the staff, the city
workers and more importantly, he
knows this community! I have such a
good feeling about his appointment.
He will lead with integrity. Scot is a
humble man and he makes it all about
the organization, not himself. That is
a refreshing quality in a leader! I wish
him well in his new role leading our
city police force!” advised Denise Turner
Sellers, Former Gilroy Chief of Police.
Mentor and friend Dan Crumrine,
Retired Police Sergeant said of Scot:
“Early on, Scot knew that police work
would be his passion. He was self-
motivated. And all his actions in the
department were driven. I feel honored
that Scot thinks of me as one of his
mentors. I have no doubt that he is up
for the job of Chief.”
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