The Illinois State Police announced the retirement of Lt. Jeff Smith of East Peoria.
Smith began his law enforcement career on April 14, 1986, when he entered the Illinois State Police Training Academy. Upon graduation, Smith was assigned to District 20, Pittsfield until transferring to District 08, Peoria in 1988.
In 1991, he was appointed the District 08 Public Information Officer, and in 1992 he transferred to the Executive Protection Unit. In 1999, Smith transferred to the Illinois Gaming Board and served as staff officer for riverboat gaming in East Peoria.
Later that year, Smith was selected as director of the State and Local Auto Theft Task Force (SLATE) in Peoria.
While running SLATE, he was called upon to supervise the Zone 4 general criminal squad in Peoria and later supervised the entire Zone 4 North Investigations office as an acting lieutenant.
In 2008, he was selected as District 08 Patrol Operations Officer and promoted to lieutenant.
