all right guys welcome to the first official podcast of arn I'm sitting here with Deputy of the Year Jordan Smith Jordan thanks for being here man thanks for having me I appreciate it I know you drove all the way from Navajo County uh snowflake which is what three and a half hours or so yep it was a quick three and a half hours I enjoy the drive oh man I really appreciate it thank you thanks for having me we uh just the audience know knows we just got back from doing a live segment on Fox 10 and I don't know about you dude but I was sweating bullets that was scary I wasn't made for that very nerve-wracking yeah I was I was drenched in sweat it was uh it was embarrassing um but I think we did a pretty good job yeah it was an awesome experience at least my wife says we did a good job yeah that's good I can't as does mine so uh I don't remember anything that I said uh will called me he's like dude what did we say on the on the news I was like that's a great question I have no idea I can't never remember I called my mom I was like I haven't seen it but how how bad does it look she said it look good so we're good we're good I think we're good um so yeah let's start out with uh who Deputy Jordan Smith is obviously you work for Navajo County how long you've been working with Navajo yeah so I've been with the Navajo County Sheriff's Office for just under five years um um I started up there in 2020 so 2020 yep I was born and raised up in Nao County I actually live in a small town called Woodruff it's north of snowflake um so my Roots Run Deep up there and I'm lucky to stay there and work that's nice that's always nice I know some deputies that um they live in one place but they have to travel travel an hour yeah to uh for work that's uh it's nice that they have you located next to home oh yeah and uh I mean I live in the area I Patrol so I mean I got skin in the game I got family there so take it a little more personal I think yeah that's right I remember my first time riding with you we actually drove through your your hometown yeah and uh that was a cool experience I remember you're like oh man there's my mom I can see her in the in the window right there yeah I was missing out on dinner that's cool man so five years with the Navajo County Sheriff's Office this um dude I don't know about you but uh when we started working with you guys from day one we were treat like family I have never received and we've been doing this for a while now um and even before Arn was a thing I was um working with Texas DPS and some of their smaller um uh police departments and uh I don't I don't know what it is but it something's different about Navajo County um we have been treated like absolute family every time we're there um sheriff clouse is an amazing person uh chief deputy swany and and uh Tor Pio just everyone is so great to us yeah I'm glad you noticed that as well because that's been my experience it's more like family up there we've got great staff the sheriff has done an incredible job with the uh County I mean there's a lot of moving Parts in a sheriff's department and I think that he's improved on every single one of those he's he's been great he absolutely is absolutely stud um so tell me a little bit about yourself about yourself how you gotten law enforcement or even before that you know you you have an incredible story and I want to get to that here in a little bit but yeah how did how did you uh how did you get into law enforcement yes so uh Celeste on Fox asked if I've always wanted to be in law enforcement I told um and I just I wasn't really interested in it growing up it's not that I didn't like the police or whatever but I wasn't really a risk taker growing up if you will I wasn't um into putting myself in danger I guess um I was in college when I was 20 years old I kind of had an unfortunate Health event and I mean I'm not afraid to talk about it because there could be other people in those same shoes that I was in so when I was 20 years old I got diagnosed with cancer I had stage four lymphoma and it was in my lungs so it was pretty severe I came over here to Scottdale and I had a great doctor it took a little over six months I mean closer to a year actually um 12 rounds of chemotherapy uh you know lost my hair did the whole nine yards and made what I believe is a miraculous recovery um that doctor really saved my life and I felt like I was given a second chance at life from that point on so as soon as I recovered and I basically was starting to get back into normal life I began looking for a job that you know would make that second chance the most productive that it could be and for me I found that in law enforcement um I'm lucky enough that the navo County Sheriff's Office took a chance on the you know the sick kids so that's been awesome sick kid yeah wow that's how it all started that's incredible man it it's it's personal to me because I I lost my mom to cancer um I was 20 24 when she passed um she had uh when we found it uh well originally the doctors thought it was uh valley fever yeah same with me actually is that right mhm yep and uh it was probably another couple months of testing they finally found found that she had stage four colon cancer yeah yep and uh yeah it was uh it was a rough time for all of us of course and uh she didn't she didn't want to do chemo she kind of just um just wanted life to take its course and uh yeah it it sucked but uh when you tell that story it's it's pretty incredible having going from stage four cancer to to uh being in remission and being completely free of cancer like yeah that's insane doctors are incredible now and at the time I mean I was 20 I was scared I didn't know what the future held for me uh I basically lost about 50 to 60 pounds um I spent also 30 days in the hospital I did five different biopsies before they figured out what was going on and uh yeah that was a crazy thing to go through as a 20-year-old kid no kid you know at the time I obviously thought that was the prime of my life which so little did I know that I would recover and be declared cure five years later wow now do you have to do any sort of annual checkups and things like that yeah I do go back to the doctor um more for my own uh personal well-being and what not and I mean I think it's a good idea for anybody to go get their yearly check backups so absolutely yeah yeah my wife's been telling me to uh if you're listening don't be mad babe but uh she's been telling me for years uh cancer does unfortunately run in the family um my grandmother had breast cancer um uncles had uh testicular cancer and yeah it runs in the family so she's like Ken you need to get in get checked out yeah um and I'm young I'm I'll be 30 38 in June man it's bad I can't remember um and I keep playing it off like yeah I'll get to it when I when I get to it but I really need to to get that figured out I mean take it from me I never thought that it would happen to me at 20 sure playing sports and in college just trying to enjoy life so yeah yeah all right I'm GNA do it keep uh hold hold my word to I I will do it all right this year um dude so now now you've you just received Deputy of the year um tell me tell me how that by the way what an incredible uh congrats thank you what an incredible achievement thanks um how does that how do they determine out of all of the sheriff's deputies in the country or excuse me in the count uh in the state which how many would you happen to know that number I don't yeah I don't it's got to be a pretty big big number I can imagine um but uh yeah how do they how do they uh find the the deputy of the year do you know how that process works yeah so I mean I wish I knew a little bit more about it the award is presented from the Arizona sheriff's Association which is an awesome group of sheriffs out of all 15 counties in the state um yearly they go there and they honor deputies and Sheriff's Office Personnel throughout the state um I was told that they kind of have a committee or something that meets and talks about stuff like that and they go over the nominees so one I was extremely humbled and appreciative just to even be nominated and let alone to receive the award but if if I really think about it there's probably a dozen or more people that should be on that plaque because you know mentors supervisors Command Staff everybody that's helped along the way I mean I owe them a huge thank you for everything that they've done I guess to make that happen yeah but dude I if you're like me and any other guy we don't like to talk about ourselves but in the short amount of time I've known you you are incredible at your job uh so uh there's there's there's no uh doubt in my mind that you were the right person for that for that award well thank you yeah man um yeah there there's a few deput I mean we've worked with a lot of deputies but you certainly go above and beyond you're proactive you don't just sit there waiting for things to happen you go out and and uh you do your job which is again incredible I appreciate it I guess uh when I love the department that I work for and the people that I work for it makes it easy to you know love my job totally yeah um so tell me a little more about yourself uh I know you have a family um um what else do you have going on in your life I know you're huge in the hunting yeah yeah so I've got two kids one on the way got a beautiful wife that came down here with me um I met her actually before I went through all the cancer and everything she went through that with me she was living in California about 8 or N9 hours away and she came to 10 of the 12 chemo treatments just to kind of sit there and watch me get sick so you know that's when I knew she was a keeper um didn't know if we'd ever have kids based on the health history and got two beautiful kids right now so that's awesome yeah and then as far as the hunting goes that's a huge passion of mine um anytime that I'm not working or hanging out with the family I'm usually out in the woods somewhere so yeah uh your your uh Instagram pictures are incredible I uh I think I mentioned uh I just put in this year the first time ever with my brother-in-law we uh I don't even know what the right ter terminology is uh put in yeah put in the ply for Elk yeah yeah I hope you draw those tags cuz I want to be there I hope so man that'd be incredible yeah I've always enjoyed hunting and stuff um especially after I've been an adult I like I really love to cook and so going out and hunting and then bringing that meat home throughout the year I can experiment try something new every night and you know our family loves it as well so makes it easy to go out and you know enjoy it yeah totally I uh I think knowing how to hunt is also a valuable skill probably a forgotten skill that you know a lot of people uh um don't know how to do so that's kind of why I want to go out and Hunt is to learn these uh skills because you know who knows if the world goes to [ __ ] I want to be able to know how to yeah you know kill an animal prep it and uh um you know so that's that's why I want to get into it but obviously there's the the part of me that I love weapons um I love being out in in the uh the Wilderness and and uh it just fascinates me so yeah I'm going to have to pick your brain on you know a decent rifle to get um I've heard people say yeah 308 that can take anything down um um but dude it is my wife and I sat down we're like all right this is going to be an expensive uh thing to get into bit by a bet yeah I mean even the scope alone is probably uh as as expensive as a rifle or more oh yeah it can it can add up my wife's goingon to listen to this so I'm not going to talk about it so yeah I know there's so many different things that go into hunting uh living in Arizona we have so many different places to hunt I mean I've hunted up in the White Mountains which I love and that's kind of where I'm from yeah but last year my brother drew a big horn sheep tag Down On the Border um like right on the border and so we hiked in there and spent quite a while in there and been able to see what Arizona has to offer off the beaten path if you will is pretty awesome if I remember correctly you've told me stories where you've gone out and hunted by yourself yeah I I mean my twin brother lives in Florida my little brother lives in Alaska so unfortunately I hunt a lot by myself yeah that's wild to me cuz I know if I remember rightly you sometimes you'll hike in miles and miles and there's no one there and you're just out there by yourself uh camping out and yeah it's kind of dangerous just me and my thoughts out there that's crazy dude no internet I don't know if I'd survive a a few hours yeah no it's probably the beauty behind it just getting away from everything and being one with nature and and you and your thoughts so yeah hopefully we get pulled uh or or yeah if that's what you call it yeah um I'm I'm excited about it if you do you better call me I will I want to be there I will bro I promise you um well we got a few uh clips that I uh chose all right of of some of the episodes you're in and uh yeah I just I want to know what was going in in your mind what was going on at that exact moment um being behind the camera you know I'm laughing in my head because I know well what's what's roll the clip will oh [Laughter] great you down make sure you don't have any weapons on you uh no we're not doing the path right now are we I'm just I'm just asking just for my safety no I don't have nothing okay I'm going to have you stand right here and if I can just ask you to keep your hands out of your pockets at all times okay appreciate it just right here oh no no I I like I said I uh I work for a son of a I didn't even know I had that in there officer I'm sorry godamn it it's just going to be my little bag with 22 shells in it dude all right so as I'm filming to me it's gold it's like oh man and I hear him say something like oh son of a [ __ ] I'm sorry officer I didn't know that was in there it's like come on dude what was going on in your mind as soon as you pulled that out yeah so I mean I wasn't surprised that there was something in there for I guess for one when I first asked him if I could Pat him down I was concerned about weapons um on a traffic stop we're always concerned about our safety and the safety of people around us if I remember right we were outside of a Flying Jay which yep is typically pretty busy um he didn't want me to Pat him down and patting him down is kind of a simple thing that uh most people are okay with sure because most people aren't hiding stuff that's right and I believe he mentioned guns in the vehicle um he obviously had bullets in his pocket so I just wanted to make sure he didn't have any weapons you know when someone tells you they don't want you to Pat him down after all those other aspects you know collectively it becomes a little the uh hair on the back of your neck stands up if you will um regardless though I didn't I didn't push the envelope and just asked him if he would take his hands out of his pockets I remember he kept putting his hands back in his pockets throughout that time um that's right he had a bunch of suspensions on his license he had a warrant um I believe for for the same violation so I ended up placing him under arrest and you know that was that was a decent amount of personal use methampetamine there yeah yeah uh so I think you already answered the question but as soon as he's saying oh no you don't have to Pat me down that's not necessary it sounds like you were that was an immediate red flag for you you're like all right this dude has something on him yeah so in law enforcement we take everything um everything into consideration I guess they call it the totality of circumstances everything up until that point additionally with him not wanting me to Pat him down kind of added that red flag in my mind yeah yeah man uh and I I want to say that was a Monday night that was my first time riding with you and and typically Monday nights it's pretty quiet um depending on where I'm at right yeah um I didn't think we'd get a stop like that and uh of course the dude ended up having um several weapons um yeah he had a a rifle if I remember a a a pistol um and uh if I remember correctly he was a he was a felon he wasn't supposed to have those yep those those uh type of weapons on him so I believe he had a doc Department of Correction r on him so I mean who knows what that was for yep but yeah that was a great catch that night yeah whether it's Sunday night Monday night you know Monday morning at 6:00 a.m. you never know what you're going to find traffic up and that's I mean that's kind of why I love law enforcement so much it's just cuz every day is different if you're looking for stuff you're probably going to find it um no matter Day weekend holiday you know it's always out there that's right and that was just you doing a routine traffic stop I think you uh I think he had a light out or something yeah he was turning he didn't use a blinker because it was not in proper working order so that's right pull them to give him a warning for it man oh I I will never forget that moment where where he pulled out that bag of meth and his his first thing is oh I forgot that was in there yeah oh man these people are funny um let's go ahead and roll that next uh that next clip real uh will that's what it is all right ma'am if you want to go back over vehic huh if you want to go back there to your vehicle okay no I can go right here it's a world do you guys have anything you want this to go with her anything better what about your cell phone okay he wants these to go with you yeah okay oh oh is that illegal no it's not you little is this long man y that lady uh she was she was bold enough to throw some personal attacks yeah that's not the worst thing I've been called so you know part for the course now now for our audience this is what law enforcement deal with yeah these are these are actual people I mean you're going out and uh grabbing a dude who had a warrant out for his arrest yeah um and here you are having to deal with not just him but also his his mother I believe it was um personally attacking you yeah like that's wild yeah so I mean this video a lot of people text me and joke about it and whatnot but in reality when someone does that they're not insulting Jordan Smith they're insulting the deputy in the uniform sure uh law enforcement in general so I don't take it personal I don't really have anything bad to say about her she was probably having a bad day on a scene like that our priority is safety um you know she was getting a little out of hand but I just wanted to get out of there because I wasn't there for her uh she wanted to make more of a deal of it than it needed to be and you know I don't take it personal I go home to my family and I don't think about her so yeah that's a good way of looking at it yeah yeah maybe she had a a bad day uh but but still though it's uh it's Behavior that's uh unexpected at least for me but I know I know you guys deal with that stuff on a daily basis and uh yeah like you said you still have to go home uh have to turn that off in your head what whatever you dealt with that day um which is pretty pretty incredible you know if people truly understood what you guys see every day or experience um I think people would have a lot more respect but uh but people just uh it's like people have forgotten what law enforcement does for us we're all First Responders right and that of course is is the goal and mission of Aaron is to to highlight the things that you guys are doing um to put you guys back in the good light because we all know we need law enforcement yeah this this world would be absolutely insane without it um we have to have a rule of law um and and uh u rules in place um but yeah it's just incredible that you guys can turn that off and and uh try to keep it out of your mind and and go about go about your your life yeah I mean stuff like this happens everywhere it's not not just this incident um and we're trying to you know not take offense to it that's what I really like about Alpha responder and everything that you guys do because it shows The Good the Bad and the Ugly what we deal with you know um as community members they can see what we're what we're dealing with with and you know that's part of it absolutely thank you for that um I think we got one more clip will if you want to put that up here roll down the window get out okay can I take a look at your eyes would you be willing to do a couple of tests for me if I can go home sir well I'm not making that deal with you I'd like to take a look at your eyes and do a What's called the hgn test helps us determine if people are impaired or not can I do that I'm impaired you are man I was blown away that the first one of the first things that come comes out of his mouth is um if I do this hgn test can I go home he wanted to go home yeah and I obviously I'm not going to make that deal no like I I don't understand what what would make him uh I mean obviously he was impaired right he was in his in his right uh state of mind but uh yeah yeah I'll do I'll do the test if you let me go home it's just insane now for the audience who may not have seen this episode um Deputy Smith received a a call about uh uh an impaired driver uh I think he hit a guard rail yeah was like a hidden run hit the guard rail and um someone else had called it in he went in the direction of a apartment complex in Winslow and we were in the area so we went to go look for it and um we were looking around the neighborhoods and whatnot and then I believe another lady called in and said like that she wanted a deputy to come check because there was a guy in a vehicle passed out behind the wheel so we went we went there and yeah sure enough there was a vehicle it was damaged it was the same vehicle involved he was parked like partially over a curb he' damaged the curb he wasn't in a parking spot um you know I went up there and saw what I saw and he wasn't compliant I told him a bunch of times to roll down that window or open the door he could hear me because he was responding but he wasn't listening to what I was telling him and the main concern in my mind is I know that there's a playground just out of view and I mean for the time of year that was pretty good weather and there was a bunch of kids in the playground um he was not in a state to be driving he wasn't listening I was parked directly behind him with my patrol car you know I had will the camera guy right behind me also I didn't necessarily know if he was between the vehicles or whatnot but that was in my mind as well and I thought the only way he's going to go is directly into that area with the playground so we ended up having to break the window um you know it's unfortunate that it ended that way but property damage Windows maybe $100 or something or the potential for this guy to go and hurt or even worse a child that's just trying to play that's right and he was um he was impaired he he was ultimately arrested for or operating a vehicle while under the implant yeah I'm I'm fascinated um with your your uh quick decision right your your mind your there's so many things going on at once the things that you just described you know uh he could possibly drive and hit a child right in front of him um the quick the quick thinking that uh is going on in your mind I'm Blown Away with your decision making um but of course you're always having to do that with every uh circumstance right you're you're having to stay on your feet and and analyze the situation in seconds yeah every every incident could change in an instant so you try to it's almost like chess you try to play a couple heads in advance when you can sure man uh it's almost like uh my brain I by the way that's another thing I'm I'm fascinated when you guys are uh reading license plates or you guys uh you you memorize plates in an instant and few you you could do a minute later run that plate um you guys just are so quick and and sharp when it uh comes to to decisions it's incredible well uh I mean when I was on field training brand new cop out of the academy uh Deputy Jackson he still works up there I saw him doing that and it was like this guy's got a photographic memory like he could just remember everything and just write it down I used I think I'd never get to that point but you know you kind of get used to the way the layout of plates and stuff like that that's true I'm sure over time yeah it takes a while to get to that point but um um well dude I want to thank you so much for being our our first guest but also thank you for your service I appreciate it thank you uh you're obviously killing it you're the deputy of the year in Arizona um and uh you're doing huge things man thank you I feel very blessed to be working at the navo County Sheriff's Office I've got a lot of pride in that agency I love the people that I work with up there and it's awesome having guys like you that are willing to put yourself out in danger to grab this content and to film you know in the police academy they teach us and you know they train us to act as if we have a camera or a spotlight on us all the time so so you guys being out there it makes it more surreal obviously but it doesn't necessarily change the way that law enforcement works but what I really like is the community members can see what's going on in their background or in their backyard at 2 am you know in winow or shello or you guys go all over the state um I guess where do you guys see yourself going with Alvar sponder Network man I have Big Dreams big goals yeah in fact I don't know if youve see the comments in our in our uh on YouTube but a lot of people are like man you guys deserve to be on uh on a bigger Network you know not just YouTube but uh a streaming service of some sort maybe Netflix or you know that would be the dream yeah um but yeah we've got a ways to go the Channel's doing well right now um but uh yeah it would be the absolute dream to to be doing this full-time um have a full-time crew like will and and our editor Zach I got to do a throw a shout out to those guys I got a really good team behind me um and we all uh we all love and support First Responders and that's hu that's super important to us um don't forget Alex and Alex as well um but yeah man that's the goal we uh we just want to shed a positive light on you guys yeah we we see that 100% in your videos and uh you know after working with you guys and seeing what you guys are all about I hope that every agency does this because you know the community is our clientele and they get to see what we're doing day in and day out I appreciate that man yeah man I got goosebumps because that that's uh that's what it's all about um and I also got to thank Navajo County Sheriff's Office uh they have been like I said in the beginning absolute family to us they took a chance on us you know before that we'd work with panau County quite a bit Sheriff Mark lamb um but Navajo County have just been absolutely incredible just so great to work with and uh yeah I I legit can call a lot of these people my friends um they they've just been great you guys have been great so thank you again man for being here yeah no problem um again this is our first podcast I promise I'll get better I'm not used to being on the camera used to being behind it yeah I don't know if I'll ever get used to anything like this it's not comfortable that's for sure um but uh yeah man thank you again thanks for having me appreciate it