PANAMA CITY — As a lieutenant in the Bay County Sheriff’s Office warrants division, Joe Smiley closed cell doors on criminals with nothing left to lose in life — all while he strived to open doors in his own.
Smiley became a captain and warrants division commander this month. He is the first black officerto obtain the rank of captain in the BCSO’s history.
“I had a dream,” Smiley said. “And following that dream, doors began to open up for me. Through the struggles, I kept on saying: ‘I can make it.’ ”
Smiley has worked his way up through the ranks of BCSO for nearly a quarter of a century.
When he transferred from an auxiliary officer position with the Panama City Beach police to the BCSO in 1990, he was the only black man on the force. He followed in the footsteps of several black role models involved in county law enforcement, but at that time he was alone.
Smiley served as a deputy for 10 years before transferring to the warrants division, where he has been since.
Every day Smiley tracked down people on the run from charges — ranging from murder to drug trafficking to bank robbery — that would send them to jail for a long time, if not the rest of their life.
“These are some bad people,” Smiley said. “It’s very dangerous because a lot of them are on their way to prison. They have nothing to lose.”
Smiley climbed in rank and received honors for his service as the racial diversity within the agency continued to grow. Shortly before he was promoted to sergeant in 2006, five black men served as deputies. And just after he reached the rank of lieutenant in 2008, the BCSO expanded to 16 black male deputies, two black female deputies, 28 black male corrections officers and 16 black female corrections officers.
In total, the BCSO employs 62 black law enforcement officers.
These days, Smiley said, race is not a factor in the BCSO. When one officer is hurt or in danger, no others stop to make sure their skin tone is similar to their own. They react and help one another, and that is the way it should be, Smiley said.
“That was the goal, and I thank God I got to see my dream,” Smiley said.