A “stern disciplinarian,” “a great friend,” and “a man of impeccable deportment,” were some of the terms that colleagues and friends used to describe the former Police Commissioner, Truehart Smith, who died last week.
Following the news of Smith’s passing over the weekend, tributes have been pouring in for the former top cop.
Former head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Nuffield Burnette was one of several law enforcement officials who spoke about the kind of man that Smith was, referring to his former colleague as a stern disciplinarian.
“I worked with him at CID where he was a very stern disciplinarian. I could have maybe taken a thing or two from him. I worked quite a while under him, I saw him go from, I think, Assistant Superintendent to the rank of Commissioner of Police. When he was Assistant Superintendent, he was in charge of the CID, and we had a very good relationship work wise,” Burnette said to this newsroom.
Deputy Commissioner Everton Jeffers, who is acting in the absence of Commissioner Atlee Rodney, said in a statement that Smith was a “friend to his family, a strict disciplinarian; a man of impeccable deportment, and a good investigator.”
DCP Jeffers also recalled their last conversation, when Smith called to express condolences, following his wife’s death.
Commissioner Rodney, who is currently in the Bahamas attending a meeting, also reflected on the life of the Former Commissioner during his policing career.
Rodney also remembered Smith as a strong disciplinarian and an extraordinary criminal investigator.
“My memory of Commissioner Smith is that he was a strong disciplinarian and one who was an extraordinary criminal investigator. His physical presence represented strong policing in areas of deportment and paying attention to every detail,” Rodney added.
Also paying tribute to Smith was the Chief of Defence Staff of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF), Colonel Telbert Benjamin, and Comptroller of Customs, Raju Boddu.
Smith joined the ranks of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda (RPFAB) on July 11, 1962, and was the Commissioner of Police from 1999 to 2003.
He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal – QPM, and was also honoured as The Most Illustrious Order of Merit-OM, for distinguished contribution to the RPFAB.
Smith died in the Cayman Islands last Friday, days after he had undergone a surgical procedure.