Albuquerque Journal, N.M., Upfront column

May 17--There she was, the stoic little girl with a smile like her father's, only that day she wasn't smiling so much.

That day in August 2005, Breanne Smith heard how much she was like her father -- strong, quiet, polite -- though she was only 13.

She heard about the good things her father had done in his more than 21 years as an Albuquerque police officer, how he thanked people after issuing them citations, how he gave his life trying to help a fellow officer.

That day, she watched his fellow officers raise their white-gloved hands in final salute. She saw the respectful crowds lining the 13-mile route from Hoffmantown Church to Sunset Memorial Park. She heard her mother sob and sirens wail.

That day, though she remembers it almost like it was a dream or a movie, she stood as they laid her father to rest.

To us, she was the stoic little girl whose father, Officer Richard Smith, was the fifth and last to die on one of Albuquerque's darkest, bloodiest days nearly nine years ago.

But to her, she was just daddy's little girl -- strong, quiet, polite and determined to go on with her life to do good things.

A week ago today, she graduated from the University of Tampa in Florida with a bachelor's degree in biology. She is 22 now, and while she is uncertain what she'll do next -- the National Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, zoos or bioparks or schools are all possibilities -- it's pretty clear she is well on her way to doing good things.

"She is exactly like her dad, physically, mentally," Susan Smith-Johnston said of Breanne, her only child. "She's a very strong person, doesn't have a bad word to say about anybody. Like her dad, she is quiet and reserved. But just like her dad, Bree also has this nurturing thing. He was always taking care of the neighbors. It's why he was a police officer: to help people. I think that's where Bree gets her nurturing nature."

Breanne remembers her dad as her big buddy who took her fishing and camping, called her "Pud-din' Bear" and "Monkey Pooh" and "Bee" and who sometimes dropped by her school in his police car, flipping on the lights and sirens when she wanted to impress her friends.

"I remember he was this super cool unstoppable Mr. Police Man, like there was nothing he couldn't do," Breanne recalled in a conversation from Tampa. "It never came across to me that anything bad could happen to him."

But something bad did happen to him.

On Aug. 18, 2005, John Hyde was a man with schizophrenia and a gun, and he was spiraling down into a dangerous and deadly mental state after his longtime diagnosis and medication had been switched over his and his family's protests.

In the course of that single day and across three crime scenes from one end of Albuquerque to the other, Hyde killed five people: state Highway Department worker Benny Lopez, 54, that morning; motorcycle shop employees Garrett Iversen, 22, and David Fisher, 17, that afternoon; and APD Officers Michael King, 50, and Richard Smith, 46, that night, before Hyde was captured and taken into custody.

That day, six boys lost their fathers. Breanne Smith lost hers, too.

"After this happened, I was amazed with her strength, and in a way I was nervous that she didn't show emotion like I thought she would," her mother said. "When I would cry, she was the one who told me, 'Mom, don't get lost in your grief. The only thing we can do is move forward.' "

And so, they did.

Seven years ago, her mother married Fowler Johnston, a friend since middle school, a retired APD deputy chief and, now, a stepfather whom Breanne affectionately calls a "nerd."

Four years ago, Breanne headed off to college in Florida, a place she had come to love many years ago when her mother and father had taken her there on vacation. It is where her love of nature and its creatures, particularly marine life, took hold.

She has never asked her mother about the night her father died. She has never wanted to know about Hyde, who in 2007 was ruled incompetent to stand trial and committed to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, NM.

"I never have talked about that," she said. "But maybe one day I will sit down with my mother and have that talk."

She is aware of the discord and distrust these days over APD back home -- the police shootings, the protests -- but she also knows this: That sometimes the bullets go the other way.

"I don't think they realize how much risk these officers take when they put on their uniforms," she said. "They are the thin blue line that protects us. Looking back now, I am really proud that my dad worked for so long in such a dangerous job."

She wishes her father could have seen her in her cap and gown and glory. Her college education was made possible in large part through funding and scholarships she received from various police foundations, charities and insurance after his death.

"He still made so many things possible," she said. "In a way, he's still helping me out."

I suspect she was smiling when she said that.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/ letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.

___

(c)2014 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at www.abqjournal.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services