A LEGACY OF PUBLIC SERVICE
Meet Jason Smith, new Chief of Jenks Campus Police Department A passion for public safety runs in Jason Smith’s family. The new Chief of Jenks Public Schools’ Campus Police Department hails from a long line of firefighters, sheriffs, police officers, and even traces his roots back to the world-famous Texas Rangers. While watching news coverage on the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Smith felt the call to leave the printing industry and join the family business. Over the last 20 years, he has helped serve and protect communities across Oklahoma – Perry, Jenks, Mounds, and Anadarko - as an officer, a deputy sheriff, a detective, a taskforce commander, and a police chief. Smith and his wife LouAnn have a son Taylor, who graduated from Jenks in 2012 and a daughter, Adelyn, who is a sophomore at Jenks High School. In the following interview, Chief Smith shares his enthusiasm for his new role and provides details on his vision for the Jenks Campus Police Department. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST APPEALING ASPECTS OF YOUR NEW JOB AS CHIEF OF CAMPUS POLICE? SMITH: It’s exciting to be able to switch from an environment of crime, punishment, and enforcement, to a position where the focus is on having a positive impact on the lives of children. I want to be able to make a real difference in the lives of kids before they might get into an area where they can’t be helped. As a police officer, you normally see people on their very worst day, and after 20 years, it takes its toll on you mentally. Now, I’m part of the Jenks team, and I get to work closely with our District leaders and administrators to fulfill a vision for our schools and to protect the most important people in our society, our children. WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT FOR JENKS PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO HAVE ITS OWN POLICE DEPARTMENT? SMITH: It’s important for us to be able to respond quickly to our school sites on both sides of the river and it’s important for us to be able to determine the level of enforcement we want to use. We want to hold the line between discipline and law enforcement because not every incident that occurs at school should result in a student having a criminal record. I believe having a visible presence at our school sites makes our students safer and that’s really our ultimate responsibility, to keep our kids safe and give parents that peace of mind as they entrust their children to our schools.