Giacomo Bologna

Springfield News-Leader

There have been brothers, fathers and sons, and even husbands and wives who have worn the badge concurrently at the Springfield Police Department. But no one can recall a father and daughter working on the force at the same time.

Officer Sarah Smith said she began following in the footsteps of her mother, a nurse, before changing her major to criminology in college and joining her father, Cpl. Tony Smith, at the police department.

Sarah Smith is no stranger to the Springfield Police Department. She said she first met her current sergeant when she was 5 years old.

She can remember after-school trips out to the police department's firing range with her father, who would tell her: "If you hear shooting, don't come out — it's fine."

Many officers already knew Sarah Smith as "Tony's kid" or the "little Smith," she said.

Her first ride-along was with her father at the age of 15, Sarah Smith said, during which Tony had to respond to "some knife fight" at a Springfield residence.

During her recent field training, Sarah Smith said she had to respond to a call regarding the same man and address from that knife fight years ago.

Even though they both work for the police department, the father-daughter duo don't get to see each other often.

"He's got the cushy eight-to-five," Sarah Smith said jokingly. "And I've got the overnight."

Tony Smith is nearly out the door — he retires in January after more than two decades at the police department. He said policing "was always a calling," but he wasn't keen on having her follow in his footsteps.

"I spent three years trying to talk her into any other profession," Tony Smith said.

Being a police officer can be tough, dangerous work, Tony said, and while Springfield overall is supportive of its law enforcement, it's not always that way.

"We've had a larger than normal amount of officers ambushed (nationally)," he said.

Tony Smith said he's always concerned for police officers, but it's different when it's his daughter wearing the badge.

"She's my little girl," he said, but added that he knows she's tough.

"She's always been independent," Tony Smith said.