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Pioneer, Omaha's Deputy Chief, Steps Down to Teach

Lynn Safranek
Omaha World-Herald (Nebraska)





Brenda Wallace planted her right foot on the gym floor and faced her much larger male sparring partner, her arm poised to strike.

The two police recruits were training for the reality they would face on the street -- when that sparring partner would be a thug and the threat real.

After each intense day of training, Wallace would leave exhausted, bruised and, at times, ready to quit.

It was 1980. Wallace was 24 years old and the only woman in a recruit class of 15.

Although her class was notable for its high percentage of minority members, Wallace's progress, in particular, drew notice.

Her acceptance into the department was a milestone. Not only was she the first black female officer in the Omaha Police Department, she was also the first in the entire state.

Fast forward to today.

Brenda Wallace is now Deputy Police Chief Brenda Smith. From her corner office on the sixth floor at the Police Department headquarters, she manages the department's training unit, personnel and community resource center.

Smith will leave that post today for a new career in teaching. She plans to retire from the Police Department and join the criminal justice staff at Metropolitan Community College. She has taught part time at Metro since 1998.

Her reasons for leaving are rooted in the past. The new-cop mentality Smith brought to the force in 1981 isn't so new anymore, she said. Also, at 49, she's older than anyone else in Omaha police management, including Police Chief Thomas Warren.

"It's time to let a new generation of cops manage," Smith said.

Her departure signals a complete turnover in the Police Department's top staff since Warren was named chief in November 2003.

After becoming chief, Warren immediately promoted Eric Buske and Don Thorson to deputy chief to fill spots opened by retirements. A fourth deputy chief was added in September 2004 to redistribute the workload. Smith was the lone mainstay from past police administrations.

The top staff began another shift recently when Thorson announced his retirement. Thorson, who will leave the department in December, will work under Mayor Mike Fahey, administering a homeland security grant.

The spots left vacant by Thorson's and Smith's departures are expected to be filled by mid-December.

Smith's record as the first black female officer and as one of the longest-serving deputy chiefs won't soon be forgotten, Warren said.

"Certainly, she was a trailblazer," he said.

Smith learned early in her career that she didn't need to prove herself or tie herself to the black female cause -- she just needed to do the job and do it well.

Other black officers served as her role models. Those officers included Anderson Cousin Jr., a retired lieutenant whose daughter joined the force in 1982.

Cousin said it was clear that Smith's ambition would take her somewhere.

"She wanted to learn, and she wasn't afraid," Cousin said.

Climbing the police ladder meant stepping away from the life of a cruiser officer and making decisions with political implications.

As a traffic lieutenant, Smith cut her teeth in the political ring speaking before the City Council during the debate over the Dodge Street and West Dodge Road anti-cruising ordinance.

In 1993, Police Chief James Skinner promoted Smith to deputy chief.

Smith was one of seven deputy chiefs to stand up to thenMayor Hal Daub in May 1997 during the dispute over accurate crime statistics and the price of the police helicopter. The controversy ended with the resignation of the mayor's aide for public safety and an apology to the deputy chiefs from Daub.

A few months later, Smith and Deputy Chief Steve Coufal faced demotion or the loss of their jobs as part of a provision to reduce the police budget.

The move rankled officers, who lobbied in force for the deputy chiefs' reinstatement. Before that eventually happened, however, Smith and Coufal acted as captains for five weeks.

"That's how I became the first female captain in the Police Department -- by demotion," she said.

Under Chief Don Carey, Smith became the department's chief executive officer, serving as acting chief in the chief's absence. She also began working more closely with police disciplinary issues.

In stricter days, Smith remembers being yelled at as an officer for not wearing her hat during a foot chase. Now, she said, some officers question their captains' actions or break the chain of command to report gripes directly to the chief.

The practice of bargaining to reduce the terms of discipline became an expectation, she said, turning the disciplinary process into "kind of a joke." Bargaining down punishments doesn't happen as often under Warren, she said.

Warren noted Smith's candor and honest opinions, even if they clashed with his own. Also admirable, he said, were Smith's positive attitude and encouragement of younger officers.

It's time, Smith said, to take those qualities to a classroom.

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