Joseph Smoot
Superintendent/Deputy Special Sheriff
Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department
Joseph Smoot has served the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for 35 years. He joined in November 1991 as a correctional officer and rose through the ranks to Superintendent and Deputy Special Sheriff. Over his career he has worked in nearly every area of the Department, from direct custody and inmate supervision to reentry programming and fugitive apprehension.
From 1991 to 1996, Joseph worked as a correctional officer in a range of units and posts, including segregation, the kitchen, the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT), and transportation. From 1996 to 2001, he worked in the Community Work Program. There, he supervised inmate crews working assignments that included painting, trash removal and cleanup, snow removal, landscaping, and community service projects across Suffolk County.
In 200,1 he joined the Field Supervision Unit (FSU), where he mentored and monitored inmates in the pre-release program. His duties included daily spot checks and random drug testing. He also helped participants find employment, connected them with programs such as Project Place and Access to Recovery (ATR), and ensured their attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)/ Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings. He returned to custody operations from 2008 to 2013, working in housing units and handling transports to appointments, courts, and hospitals.
Joseph earned certifications from the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center in Pennsylvania in the detection of deceptive behavior, interview and interrogation techniques, and drug identification. Throughout his career, he has also completed numerous training sessions and seminars and holds many training certificates.
In 2013, Joseph returned to the FSU as its Sergeant. He was later promoted to Lieutenant, then Captain. He rose to the role of Superintendent, and he now serves as Deputy Special Sheriff. Under his leadership, the FSU has recaptured 100% of individuals who have breached custody and maintains a high program completion rate. The FSU also locates, apprehends, and extradites fugitives across the United States. It works closely with many partner agencies, including the Massachusetts State Police, the Boston Police Department, the MBTA Transit Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service.