Photo credits: CBS News

L.C. “Buckshot” Smith (pictured) may be 91, but he has not let old age get in the way of his passion.

The Camden, Arkansas cop is the oldest police officer in his state. He may move a little slower but he walks the beat of his hometown four days a week. When he’s not seen strolling the city, he can be found in his unmarked police car.

“This badge and gun don’t make a you a police officer. You got to respect people,” Smith told CBS News.

Smith gained popularity by working more than four decades for the Ouachita County Sheriff’s Department. After working 46 years as a deputy, he retired, but that only lasted five months.

Buckshot said he was no having any fun in retirement. “I don’t hunt. I don’t fish,” he told CBS.

So during his 80s, Smith became a rookie Camden cop. He carries a gun, but he has something far more powerful at his disposal.

“He knows your mama and he knew your grandmother. So he has the authority to speak into our lives,” Camden Mayor Julian Lott said. 

“[I’ve] taken more people home than I’ve taken to them to jail,” Smith also told CBS while describing his long career in law enforcement. 

“He does not want to retire. In his words, to me, he’ll retire when the good Lord tells him to,” says Camden Police Chief Boyd Woody (Meara, 2021).

Reference: Meara, P. (2021, March 10) 91-Year-Old Police Officer Isn’t Retiring Anytime Soon: “Buckshot” Smith is the oldest cop in Arkansas. Retrieved from https://www.bet.com/news/national/2021/03/10/91-year-old-police-officer-lc-buckshot-smith-retire.html

*BlackThen.com writer/historian Victor Trammell edited and contributed to this report.