Conversation with Kelli Smith, Longboat Key's new police chief

A new era began Monday for the Longboat Key Police Department as Kelli Smith, 51, began her tenure as the town's new chief.

Smith takes over for Pete Cumming, who retired Friday after a 40-year career in law enforcement. 

The Longboat Observer caught up with Smith on her first day to discuss what she hopes to bring to the Longboat Key Police Department.

How does this first day compare to your previous experience?

I will tell you, as a chief who's already been a chief for three years, this day one is different in the sense that I'm home. Florida is home for me. And, Arizona was great. If not for Arizona, I wouldn't be at Longboat Key. So it differs in that I'm home. I love the small-agency feel. I always vacation on the West Coast. I love the West Coast of Florida. So from the environmental standpoint, and being here, that's amazing.

You just mentioned home, you talked about being in closer proximity to your family. What’s that like?

I just have kind of started to land, but my mom is over on the east coast and she was actually just diagnosed with kidney cancer about three weeks ago. They say it's treatable and beatable. So, the anxiety level of being away from family would have been completely different.

You’ve done quite a bit of work with the Pink Patch Program.  Would you like to continue that in Longboat Key?

Smith: I would love to. It's important to me, but I don't want it to stop there. I've done other things to try and create awareness. We did “No Shave November" and "Double Down December” to help the homeless and help feed people in need underprivileged folks, or folks who have just hit hard times.

The Pink Patch Project is near and dear, obviously. I shared with you my sister died at 58. I have a sister who's fighting it and my mom is a survivor. So yeah, I want to bring as much here as I can to expand our outreach and benefit people. Public service is a privilege.

What are the things that need to be done in the first three months, first six months and first year now that you’re actually here?

The first 60-90 days when you come into an organization that’s been well run, you don't have to do crisis mitigation. So you go in and you get the identity of the department, and you find out what the folks that work there need and what they find value in.

But, outreach has been my biggest platform for my career: hearing what people need, hearing what people want, and hearing how we can add value because it's really always about raising the level of service.

What are the ways that you’re planning to do that even with pandemic restrictions?

So, some of the things that I want to do are obviously participate in the Zoom meetings, things that are outdoors where you can be involved and engage your people, and finding out what other people have as far as ideas.

Some of the organizations that I have talked to in terms of other law enforcement agencies… “Coffee with a Cop” is something I've always done, but how can we reinvent that in an outside modality? And so those will be the things that I want to try and introduce here.

Look, drive-in movies are back in. Right? Now we’re getting drive-in concerts. We're just gonna redefine it, but I really want us to be out and be available and engage.

 What’s exciting about the service-style model of law enforcement compared to law enforcement in another community?

My excitement comes from what can I do to help people? What can my team do to help people improve their quality of life, to enjoy their environment and to make it safe as possible?

How do you foresee how you’ll work with other law enforcement agencies throughout the area?

 I plan to be completely invested in those agencies because it's just the right thing to do. Their problems today could very well become Longboat Key’s problems tomorrow. So if I am able to engage, then I only keep Longboat Key in a position to be aware of what's happening.

But, the other thing is, as a small agency, you still want to contribute. You still want to feel good about what you bring to the table and that you're not always taking. So as I become more familiar with my local law enforcement partners in the area, there are going to be things that I hope that my team can step up and fulfill in terms of needs because it is about collaboration. And, the more we work together, when we have one of those uh-oh moments, we're going to be more seamless.

What should we know about Kelli Smith?

The first thing I would say is I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful for this opportunity.

I hope to find out what the community needs and add value because what you need from law enforcement is going to be different than what 10 people standing in the line of Publix need.

And so, it's not for me to assign what everybody needs from us, it's for me to have my finger on the pulse, be available and be transparent. Because if you're transparent all the way along, when there comes a moment where something happens, and it's inevitable, right? You're managing people who are dealing with people and potentially who are in need of a service or have done something wrong. So you're gonna have uh-ohs. If you've been transparent all the way along, it goes a long way with people giving you a minute to explain.

So I would say availability, transparency, engaging and definitely committed to adding value.