Unlike many police officers, Eric Smith didn’t necessarily grow up aspiring to be where he is today in his career. Smith said he actually wanted to enter the military but was forced to make other plans after being permamently disqualified for service because of his hearing. “Apparently, I couldn’t hear well enough for [the military] and it was the end of that,” he said.
Inspired by a cousin who was a Clarke County deputy sheriff, Smith began his law enforcement career in June 1991. He was hired as a dispatcher by the police department in his hometown of Thomasville, Ala.
Prior to arriving at Gulf Shores Police Department in 2006, Smith also worked for Grove Hill Police Department, Clarke County Sheriff’s Department, and Foley Police Department. He current works as a night patrolman.
The 16 year veteran, who is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police and South Baldwin Search and Rescue, said he purely enjoys working in the field of law enforcement. “I really find a lot of enjoyment working with young people and the elderly,” Smitth said. “Those two groups of society still seem to have the most respect [for authority figures].”
Smith said the amazing thing about working at GSPD is how dramitcally the area changes throughout the year. “During the winter we can actually go a night without getting a call, but between the Memorial and Labor Day holidays things are always clicking,” he said.
The slow winter months give officers a chance to reflect on the previous months and discover how they might handle certain situation differently in the future. Smith said he patrols pretty much anything south of Fort Morgan Road and has seen a lot working the beach front during spring break through the busy summer months.
Smith, a 1991 graduate of Clarke County High School, completed the Alabama Police Academy at Selma in 1996 and recently took 10 weeks of training in Spanish for Law Enforcement at Faulkner State College in Fairhope.
Smith lives in Gulf Shores with his wife Oxana, a native of the Central Asia country of Kazakhstan (which drew attention with the recent controversial fiction film Borat) and his six year-old son Andrew. His daugher Erica, 12, lives with her mother in Thomasville.
