Danger, Duty, and the Badge: Detective Tom Smith’s Story
Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.4 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day after day, case after case, Tom Smith returned to the job with a clear sense of purpose: protect, respond, and stand with the people beside him. On this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum talks with the retired NYPD detective about the path that led him from patrol work to the Joint Terrorism Task Force and ultimately, to a lifetime of service recognized at the national level. Tom shares how his father shaped his calling, how partnership becomes its own lifeline, and how a series of events during one 12-hour shift in the Bronx has stayed with him ever since.
Highlights:
- (0:00) Sheryl welcomes listeners to Zone 7 and introduces guest Tom Smith
- (1:15) Tom shares how his father's NYPD career inspired his own path
- (5:00) Reconnecting with Detective Ralph, the most decorated detective in NYPD history
- (7:00) A single shift: rooftop rescue, shooting scene, infant CPR, and a fallen officer
- (12:15) Deployment to Afghanistan on a kidnapping case
- (14:45) The emotional burden carried by spouses and families
- (18:30) Choosing the right partner and building trust that saves lives
- (30:15) Tom reflects on being inducted to the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame
- (33:45) Table 15: friendship, laughter, and shared history
- (40:00) Continuing tradition and community beyond the job
- (41:15) Closing reflections on service, loyalty, and legacy
Guest Bio:
Tom Smith is a retired NYPD detective and 2024 National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame inductee. Over 30 years of service, he worked in patrol, narcotics, and robbery investigations and spent 17 years working with the FBI/NYPD on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, including an overseas deployment to Afghanistan. Tom co-hosts the podcast Gold Shields, lectures on criminal justice and terrorism and provides investigative commentary for national media outlets.
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnline, forensic and crime scene expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and co-author of the textbook Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. She is the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a national collaboration that advances techniques for solving cold cases and assists families and law enforcement with unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnappings.
Social Links:
- Email: [email protected]
- Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
- Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum
- Instagram: @officialzone7podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:12.0 | Y'all, this is a special Zone 7. |
| 0:15.5 | We are going to talk to somebody that the heroes look up to. |
| 0:21.6 | You don't have to look any further than the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame |
| 0:26.6 | that honors officers that have gone above and beyond the call of duty. |
| 0:31.6 | And tonight we have Tom Smith. |
| 0:34.6 | He is a part of my Zone 7. |
| 0:36.6 | He is a part of my Table 15. and we're going to talk about that. But I welcome him humbly. I know his background. I know his track record. I know his career. Sir, how are you? |
| 0:52.3 | I am great, and you just made my day even better being here. |
| 0:57.0 | It's always a privilege and an honor, no matter where we are, as long as we're together |
| 1:03.0 | and doing a show like this makes it even more special. |
| 1:07.0 | You know, let's just start from the beginning. |
| 1:09.0 | You selected, of all the departments in the world, |
| 1:13.1 | of all the levels, state, local and federal, the New York City Police Department. Why NYPD? |
| 1:21.3 | My dad was an NYPD detective for 26 years from 1950 to 1976. |
| 1:28.7 | So that's all I knew. |
| 1:31.4 | I knew one department in this world, and it was the NYPD. |
| 1:35.0 | I grew up idolizing my dad and wanting to be like him, just like every little boy, you know, in the world growing up and looking at this six foot three, |
| 1:46.5 | two, twenty, you know, pound Irishman who controlled, uh, his world in, in law enforcement |
| 1:55.0 | and was respected like crazy. Uh, and that's what I wanted. That's what I wanted to be just like him. I used to steal |
| 2:05.8 | his shield when he came home from work and put it on my belt to run around and chase my |
| 2:10.3 | sisters. So that was, you know, growing up, I was I was doing one or two things, Charlotte. I was playing baseball or I was going to be a cop. |
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