Smith’s legacy education

A senior officer is being remembered for instilling a legacy of learn ing in the Service.

F. Darren Smith

S/Supt. Darren Smith, who joined the Service in 1979, died Dec. 19 after battling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 52.

“Darren has left a great legacy in training and education of police officers,” Chief Bill Blair said, after meeting with Smith’s family. “He was a very, very bright man and a very capable police leader.”

Chief Blair first met Smith as a detective in 31 Division, 25 years ago, seeing his leadership qualities right away.

“You could tell then he was a special guy who was wickedly intelligent, curious about everything and a man of ideas,” he said. Chief Blair said, just as Smith challenged himself at work, he also did so at play.

The 33-year officer was a world traveller, a martial-arts master and had recently finished a cookbook.

“He had an enormous circle of friends because of his wide array of interests,” Chief Blair said. The latest recruit class honoured Smith’s legacy with a moment of silence during their swearing-in ceremony, after the playing of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes on the morning of his death.

S/Sgt. Bill Vieira told the class Smith would have been delighted to see them walk through the doors of the Toronto Police College.

“He had a special passion for recruits; he wanted to share his knowledge with them,” said Vieira, who met Smith as head of the Service’s former training facility, C.O. Bick College in Scarborough. “He was a mentor and someone I learned from.

“He certainly had vision and that vision led us to being here at the brand-new Toronto Police College,” said Vieira.

Supt. Debra Preston, who now heads the Training & Education unit, said Smith made his mark at the College and beyond.

“Darren was a huge presence in the training field, not only in the Toronto Police Service but among our policing partners,” Preston said, noting he worked to found the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) – a non-profit corporation that provides e-learning designed by Canadian police services for police officers. “He’ll be sorely missed at the Toronto Police College.”

CPKN recently presented Smith with the inaugural F. Darren Smith Award of Excellence, which will be presented annually to training leaders.

A graduate of St. Francis Xavier University with an adult education degree, the University of Guelph with a Master’s and the Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston, Smith also completed several executive development programs at York University, the Ontario Police College and the Canadian Police College. In addition, he taught at several institutions, including Humber College and the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy.

“He left a passion within the Toronto Police Service for service excellence through continual learning,” Deputy Chief Mike Federico said. “He was a mentor and friend to many.”

Despite being diagnosed with ALS over two years ago, Smith continued to work with the Service.

“Even after his diagnosis, Darren’s commitment to our Service and its members never wavered,” said S/Sgt. Chris Boddy, who worked with Smith during his last assignment as staff superintendent. “I truly saw him to be a caring and compassionate person with a sense of humour second to none.”

Smith is widely recognized as a leader and innovator in law enforcement for conceiving several ground-breaking initiatives. He assisted in the creation of the Use of Force Model and was the first police officer to provide expert testimony on the model in the courts, thus having it accepted by the judiciary.

He also facilitated the first Garda and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) meeting at the FBI Academy during the RUC’s restructuring, played a major role in the establishment of the Community Mobilization Unit, authored the Service’s e-learning nearly two decades ago, and was instrumental in supporting and streamlining the Service’s training program.

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