Lt. Colonel Linda Smith grew up wanting to become a police officer. Her law enforcement career began when she was 19, and she worked as a dispatcher for the Glasgow police.  She then went on to graduate from the Kentucky State Police Academy in 1979.  She patrolled for 10 years in the Henderson area before being promoted to detective, then a sergeant, and a lieutenant.  In 1995, as an instructor at the Kentucky State Police academy, Col. Smith was charged with creating a new recruiting section and she recruited a record number of women and minorities. 

  In October 1997, in the Commonwealth Communiqué, Smith stated, “The first priority of the office is to attract quality applicants, recruiting females and minorities is a major goal.  I want to encourage young women and men to consider the rewards of a police career.”

  Col. Smith is also the co-founder and former president of the Kentucky Women in Law Enforcement Network (KWLEN).  She has served as a guest lecturer for various civic and educational groups, and as a DARE instructor.

  Smith is currently the Director of the Administrative Division of the Kentucky State Police, which means that she oversees the Training Academy, Personnel, Internal Affairs, Research & Development, Fiscal Affairs, Employee  Assistance, Recruitment Sections, Public Affairs, and Highway Safety Branches.  Her promotion to a command staff position in August of 1999 was a first for a Kentucky female. 

Visit the Kentucky State Police Web site.

Visit the National Center for Women & Policing (NCWP), a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which promotes increasing the numbers of women at all ranks of law enforcement as a strategy to improve police response to violence against women, reduce police brutality and excessive force, and strengthen community policing reforms.