For 10 consecutive years, Smithfield has been a certified crime prevention community.

The town of nearly 9,000 residents, the second-smallest in Virginia to achieve certification, recently renewed that status after demonstrating to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services that it continues to meet the 12 core criteria, and seven optional criteria, for certification. These include:

• Developing a crime prevention or community safety coalition with representatives from law enforcement, schools, social services, businesses, service organizations and elected officials
• Having a DCJS-certified crime prevention specialist on staff at the police department
• A neighborhood watch program
• A community policing or crime control planning process
• Organized distribution of community safety information
• A designated person or committee to conduct safety assessments of at-risk neighborhoods
• Functional crime analysis capability
• A comprehensive school safety audit
• A business outreach program
• An on-site victim/witness services program
• A delinquency prevention program targeting at-risk youth
• Accreditation through the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission

“This isn’t an easy task and takes tremendous amount of dedication not only from the Smithfield Police Department but from your whole community,” said Tina Sumpter, accreditation manager for DCJS.

“We’re extremely proud of this accomplishment,” said Mayor Steve Bowman at the Town Council’s Dec. 3 meeting. “I think you would agree that it really requires a lot of work and a lot of dedication by the police department and the community.”

Bowman was police chief when the town first obtained certification in 2014. He was succeeded by Chief Alonzo Howell in 2017.

There were only 12 counties, cities and towns certified in 2024. Smithfield is one of only three towns in Virginia to achieve certification.

The certification process originated in 1998 through an executive order by then-Gov. James Gilmore that created the New Partnership Commission for Community Safety and tasked it with advising the governor on initiatives to promote community safety. The Commission recommended, and the DCJS approved, the certification program based on a study conducted by the Virginia State Crime Commission in 1993. The goal of the certification program, according to the DCJS website, is to publicly recognize and certify localities that have implemented a defined set of community safety strategies.