The Tucson Police Department recognized Officer Randy Smith for his generosity this week after he helped a mother and son, who found themselves down on the luck.
On July 23, 2015 Officer Smith and Officer Marquis were monitoring traffic in the area of Randall/Valencia. Officer Marquis became concerned after not seeing or hearing from Officer Smith, so he checked his welfare near Bilby Road and Nogales Hwy. Officer Marquis discovered that Officer Smith had been flagged down by a couple that was in need of a new tire. The tire was not completely flat, but was losing its rubber and cording. Initially, Officer Smith was flagged down by the couple who wanted to know if it was illegal to ask around for money.
Officer Smith purchased a tire from a nearby tire shop. The officers proceeded to escort the couple a few blocks down the roadway to have the tire replaced.
The couple was a mother and her son, originally from Indiana, who had moved to Tucson a few years ago for work. The mother had obvious medical conditions and was mobile only by the use of a walker. The son, “Bill,” explained that he and his mother recently fell onto hard times when he was laid-off by his employer. Not only was he laid-off, but he was diagnosed with medical conditions preventing him from finding other employment. The two were trying to scrape together as much money as possible to move back to Arkansas so they could be closer to family and work.
Officer Marquis stated, “Officer Smith’s action honestly put warmth in my heart and proves goodness still exists. Although we proudly serve and protect daily, I consider this a random act of kindness going above our duty as officers and consider it the good heartedness we rarely find nowadays. Officer Smith has always been a positive co-worker since I’ve known him. It would have been easy for him to push these two citizens to the side, educate them about panhandling and move on. Officer Smith was empathetic and compassionate with their hardship. Service orientation is expected of employees and was modeled today by Officer Smith who did so effortlessly and without second thought. I wanted to personally acknowledge him for his actions and share this story with his supervisors.”
On August 19, 2015 Officer Randy Smith received a Commendation from the department for his exceptional service.