While the City Council takes more time vetting Gilroy’s next
police chief, Capt. Scot Smithee took over this morning as the
department’s interim chief.
While the City Council takes more time vetting Gilroy’s next police chief, Capt. Scot Smithee took over this morning as the department’s interim chief.
Gilroy Police Department Chief Gregg Giusiana retired Thursday, and city staff and the council are still considering details about his likely successor, Denise Turner, a chief with a 26-year career at the King County Sheriff’s Office, which covers Seattle.
Smithee, 43, has been with the department for more than 20 years and will serve as acting police chief at least until Feb. 4, when the council will hold a closed session to discuss confidential information about Turner. The body could vote to confirm her during its subsequent open session, or Mayor Al Pinheiro could call for another closed session and postpone the vote further.
Either way, Smithee will be at the helm for the next week or so, and most residents know him as the valiant man who received the Carnegie Medal for heroism and the Coast Guard Medal for saving seven fellow passengers from a catamaran that capsized off the coast of Lana’i, Hawaii, in March 2004.
Smithee could not be reached Friday afternoon, but has a brief biography online because he also works as an instructor at The Driving Company. The Los Gatos-based company teaches people how to manage emergency and off-road vehicles. Smithee has trained more than 6,500 students, according to the Web site, which hints at his Masters Degree in Leadership.
