Rockland DA's Office Names 1st Female Chief Of Detectives

Deirdre Smith has been sworn in as the Chief of Detectives for the Rockland County District Attorney's Office.

The first woman to serve as Chief of Detectives, she replaces Peter Walker, who recently retired.

Smith is a graduate of Manhattan College. She started her law enforcement career in 1993 with the New York Police Department and spent five years there before joining the Suffern Police Department.

She served for 22 years in Suffern, retiring at the rank of sergeant. Smith was the first female supervisor in the department's history. During her career with Suffern PD, she received the prestigious Medal of Honor Award for Valor from the Rockland County PBA.

In 2020, she retired from the Suffern PD and joined the Rockland County District Attorney's Office where she served as the first female Confidential Investigator to the District Attorney in the office's history. She has worked on many high profile cases during her time with the DA's Office.

Smith comes from a family that has a long history in law enforcement. Her father is a retired NYPD inspector and her sister has served with the FBI for 25 years, officials said.