:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/TWRLYUZFGNHAUBI7CLVXH4H45U.jpg)
AMBOY – Ever since he was a little kid growing up in Dixon, Paul Smith knew he wanted to be a cop.
After graduating from Dixon High School, he went off to college in Missouri to get a degree in criminology. He joined the Lee County Sheriff's Department as a correctional officer in 1982.
He worked as a patrol deputy in 1986, then resigned to pursue a career in professional wrestling – not a terribly surprising revelation if you meet the burly 6-foot-7 police chief in person. In fact, he actually was inducted into the Windy City Pro Wrestling Promotion's Hall of Fame.
By 1991, though, he was back in law enforcement, and on Aug. 26 of that year, he was hired by the Amboy Police Department. He was chief within a year.
And now, 24 years later, he's set to retire.
"I enjoy helping people," he said in his office in Amboy City Hall. "Not only kids, but I like the elderly, as well. As a police department here in Amboy, we're pretty firm against crimes against children and crimes against the elderly. We take that a lot more seriously than a lot of other crimes."
He recalled an incident from a few years ago when he and a civilian – a maintenance worker – were the first on scene at a terrible house fire. Together, they ran into the house, grabbing its elderly resident and carrying him to the squad car to take him to the hospital.
"The adrenaline really takes over," Smith said. "The house was up in flames, but where he was sitting it was mostly smoke still. You could barely see. ... If it had been any longer, it's possible he might have succumbed to smoke inhalation."
Instead, the man lived.
Smith and his wife, Cyndy, have three children, Aprille, Wayland, and Autumn.
Retirement, he said, will likely mean lots of trips to Wisconsin to visit family, lots of fishing, and golf. Plus, he has more than a few things he needs to cross off his honey-do list.
This weekend will mark his final Depot Days as police chief, an illustrious career that will end "just as soon as the last car leaves Sunday at the car show."