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The LAPDonline.org® website has made reasonable efforts to provide an accurate translation. However, no automated or computerized translation is perfect and is not intended to replace human or traditional translation methods. The official text is the English version of the LAPDonline.org® website. If any questions arise concerning the accuracy of the information presented by the translated version of the website, please refer to the English edition of the website, which is the official version.

		Andrew Smith Commander Media Relations and Community Affairs Group email

Commander Andrew J. Smith, Commanding Officer, Media Relations and Community Affairs Group. Commander Andrew Smith was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin and raised outside a small town in upper Michigan. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1986 at the University of California San Diego. While working for the LAPD, he continued his education, earning a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration in 1997 from the University of Southern California (USC), where he was recognized as an Honor Graduate. He is also a graduate of the 100th Session of USC’s Delinquency Control Institute, the 206th Session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and the 138th Session of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston, Massachusetts.

Commander Smith joined the LAPD in 1988. Early in his career with LAPD, Commander Smith worked a variety of patrol and specialized unit assignments in Wilshire, Newton, 77th Street, and Pacific Areas.

He was promoted to Sergeant in 1993, to Lieutenant in 1997, to Captain in 2001, and to Commander in 2007. As a Captain, he was the Commanding Officer Communications Division, with more than 700 civilian and sworn personnel. He was also the Commanding Officer of Central Area, which covers approximately 4½ square miles in the downtown section of the City of Los Angeles. In that capacity, he was responsible for over 400 police officers, detectives, and civilian personnel, who provided police service to approximately 40,000 residents. His prior commands as Captain include Harbor Patrol Division, and Harbor Operations-Support Division.

Commander Smith was promoted to the rank of Commander on June 28, 2007. His most recent assignment was Assistant Commanding Officer, Operations-West Bureau. His prior assignments as a commander were: Assistant Commanding Officer, Operations-South Bureau, Commanding Officer, Criminal Gang Homicide Group, and Assistant Commanding Officer, Operations-Central Bureau.

Commander Smith is also active in many professional organizations, including the Police Officers’ Association of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, the FBI National Academy Associates, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Senior Management Institute of Police. He was appointed on September 27, 2011 as a Public Safety Commissioner for the City of Redondo Beach.