Robert Smith appointed Genoa police chief

DeKALB – Genoa Mayor Mark Vicary can't think of anyone who has better served the area than a man who has spent most of his life in city, and dedicated the past 20 years to its safety and well-being.

The Genoa City Council unanimously approved Robert Smith as the new chief of police at its meeting Sept. 1.

"In the last four to five months he’s been the chief, we’ve seen some remarkable progress," Vicary said.

Smith, a former U.S. Army military police officer, has served the department since 1995 and has been acting police chief for the past five months, after the retirement announcement of the previous chief, Ty Lynch.

In addition to being the force's new chief, Smith also handles the department's K-9 officer named Kane. Smith is responsible for reinstating the K-9 program, after the department's only police dog left when his owner was laid off in 2007, Vicary said.

"The dog was such a valuable asset to town and an attribute," he said. "People feel such a genuine safety having the dog around."

Spearheaded by Smith and through the sale of raffle tickets, band performances, a grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation and individual donors, the Genoa Police Department successfully raised the $11,500 needed to purchase Kane in 2012.

Since becoming acting chief in April, Smith has acquired squad car computers and video cameras, and updated the city's Emergency Operations Manual, vicious dog ordinance and part-time police standards ordinance, according to a news release.

"The magnitude of having the Emergency Operations Manual up to date is underscored by the realization that disasters such as the one that just befell Fairdale, so nearby to us, demand that we be ready to protect the public should anything like this occur," Vicary said in a the news release.

Smith's plans for the city's police force include possibly adjusting parking fines to match surrounding cities' as well as looking into a establishing a chaplain program for the department, he said.

"We’re always looking for new programs, to start new programs, evaluate what we can change and provide new services," Smith said.

Smith will receive a $85,280 annual salary, plus an additional $1,000 stipend for Kane, he said. That's roughly $3,000 more than the 2014 police chief salary of $82,184, according to city documents.

"Each and every council member thought Bob really stepped up to the plate," Vicary said. "We didn’t get one dissension."

The Genoa Police Department is a close community, with five full-time and five part-time officers, most of whom have known each other for nearly 15 years, Smith said.

"We’ve all kind of grew up in this department together," he said.

But it isn't just the department that knows Smith well. During his time in Genoa, Smith has earned a respectable reputation throughout the community, Vicary said.

"We’ve got the right man. Bob’s our guy," Vicary said. "You can just tell. Bob’s got that personality and that persona for him and that work ethic and you just know he’s the right guy."