Austin Smith, Longtime Police Officer, Is Dead at 61

Austin Smith, past director of the Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center and a former Costa Mesa police lieutenant, died Thursday after a long battle with leukemia. He was 61.

Smith, a Costa Mesa resident, had an extensive and distinguished career in law enforcement that spanned nearly four decades.

In 1957, he joined the Costa Mesa Police Department and rose to the rank of lieutenant. In 1973, he left the department to work for the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, California’s certifying body for law enforcement training.

At the commission, he served as bureau chief and was instrumental in developing standards for police training. In 1978, Smith became director of the Criminal Justice Training Center, retiring in 1992.

“You can see the generations he touched,” said Hugh Foster, a longtime colleague and friend who is now the director of the Criminal Justice Training Center. “Obviously during his whole public safety career, he had a desire to upgrade the law enforcement profession through training and education.”

Foster said that Smith was instrumental in creating a partnership with law enforcement agencies to further expand the training center’s curriculum and develop the current center, built in 1981.

“Austin was a true visionary when it came to law enforcement and law enforcement training,” Foster said. “He’s definitely going to be missed by the law enforcement community.”

Smith, born in Los Angeles and raised in Costa Mesa, served in the U.S. Navy, earned a master’s degree from USC and coached football at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret, three children and grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, 3800 S. Fairview Road. Interment will be private.

Donations may be made to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation in care of Children’s Hospital of Orange County, P.O. Box 1076, Orange, CA 92668-0076.