Assistant Commissioner Dean Smith APM joined the NSW Police Force in 1988 serving in the Sutherland / St George area in General Duties and Investigations. He went on to serve in the Drug Enforcement Agency, Crime Agency, Georges River Target Action Group and Olympic Security Command.
He was promoted to Senior Sergeant Crime Coordinator at Wollongong in 2002 and Inspector Duty Officer at Cootamundra in 2006. He was appointed Superintendent in 2014 as the Operations Manager, Northwest Metropolitan Region and later commanded the NSW Police Dog Unit and Lake Illawarra Police District before his promotion to Assistant Commissioner, Commander Education and Training Command in 2021. Assistant Commissioner Smith was appointed Commander People & Capability Command in January 2022 and is leading the integration of the NSW Police Forces human resources and education and training functions into one command.
Assistant Commissioner Smith has been recognised for his dedication to duty many times through his career and has been awarded the Australian Police Medal, the National Medal, National Police Services Medal, Commissioners Commendation for Service and Commissioners Emergency Commendation.