Beginnings and background
In his youth, Matt Smith spent time in Western Colorado and came to live here permanently after serving in the US Navy when he decided to attend college at Mesa State College. He attended the police academy in Delta, Colorado in 1998 and then began his career in law enforcement in Cortez, CO. After a year there, he was offered a position with the GJPD and he's been with the department ever since; advancing through patrol and drug task-force positions, to various sergeant and commander roles.
His diverse background serving in many different capacities within the department made him the first chief of police to advance through the ranks internally, to that position since the 1980s. Some of those roles include Ex-O (Executive Officer) and commander of SWAT and director of the School Resource Officer (SRO) program. His direct involvement with nearly every aspect of both sides of the Department has prepared him well for this role.
When speaking of the two sides of the department he specifically mentioned operations (all uniformed staff) and services (dispatch, detectives and civilian staff). He has been the Chief of Police for Grand Junction since January of 2023 and filled the role as interim chief for four months prior to formally being offered the role as chief.
Present Day
Today, Chief Matt Smith maintains a high level of professional standards and among the things he's pleased with is the way the department takes care of its staff. He feels there are always efforts being made to improve work-life balance for sworn officers and civil staff alike.
Community Ties
One major influence in his choice to remain in Grand Junction through his career - family. His wife is from here and he has enjoyed the richly diverse outdoor recreation activities our area has to offer for decades, with friends and family alike. He even worked on what he refers to as a "dude ranch" near Rifle before his law enforcement days. During his time at the ranch he often served as a guide for ranch guests. His love for enjoying the abundant access to public lands such as forest service, national parks and BLM managed lands includes stand-up paddle boarding on the Colorado River, hiking, hunting and camping and he enjoys the many golf courses, snowboarding and ATV trail activities available in the surrounding area too. "It's a great place to raise kids!" he said enthusiastically.
Looking Forward
Growth within our community is often met with mixed feelings from long-time locals and Chief Smith can relate. We have so many things to enjoy and be proud of but we also want growth to be beneficial. To achieve that he said this: "Growth needs to be sustainable, measured, strong and support the good things we have here." Ongoing efforts of GJPD toward duty, trust, mutual respect within the community and commitment to citizens and the Constitution remain strong on his watch.
Update from Nov. 2020
Readers may remember or want to look beck at the article printed in November of 2020, when five community leaders offered their insights on responding to needs throughout the community during the peak of COVID difficulties. These services include: victims' needs (the GJPD Victim Services office), law enforcement and crisis management, including the Pine Ridge wildfire, in unincorporated Mesa County (Mesa County Sheriff's Office), fire and EMS response inside Grand Junction City Limits (GJ Fire Department), Mesa County Health Department (Health Department Director) and law enforcement within the city of Grand Junction (GJPD former Police Chief. Each of these critical local services played a key role in not only the effectiveness of the responses needed at the rime but in qualifying Mesa County for a variance plan that became the model for state officials to follow in working toward getting communities back to "open for business" status.
"Our job is to protect individuals and to defend the Constitution which sustains the rights of our citizens".
His direct involvement with nearly every aspect of both sides of the Department (operations and services) has prepared him well for this role.