PORTAGE | Bill Smith has been a Portage police officer for 10 years, and there's not a day he's not excited to go to work.

Working in construction before he decided to join the department, Smith says he always knew he wanted to work in law enforcement.

"It is the only thing I was born to do, wanted to do, was become a police officer," said Smith, who recently was named the department's Officer of the Year.

"When you work construction, you knew what you were going to do each day. It was the same thing. You asked yourself, 'Did you really change anyone's life today?' You might have built someone a nice home, but you really didn't make a difference," he said.

"When I go home now each day, I feel I've accomplished something. I've made a difference," said Smith, a master patrolman who's canine partner, Fax, has been by his side for about eight years. This is the second time Smith has been chosen as the department's officer of the year by his peers.

Smith is a member of the department's Stop Team, a three-member team aimed at being proactive in stopping crime before it hits or spending extra time on investigations. They also work on educating the public, from seat belt enforcement to talking with school children.

That's what Smith likes best about his time on the force, meeting people -- good and bad -- and talking to them, building a rapport and gaining information that could help solve or prevent a crime.

"Ninety-nine percent of what we do down here is proactive," he said from his office in the basement of the police station, an area that used to be jail cells. "I don't have a problem talking to anyone, and you'd be surprised what people tell you. It takes a whole community to come together and provide information, to let police know what is going on."

Smith, the father of two, enjoys talking to children, hoping to provide a positive influence and help set them in the right direction. Sometimes it works, he says; sometimes it hasn't. But when he sees someone return who he tried to mentor as a child, and that person has taken that right direction, it is particularly gratifying.

"If I would have stayed in construction, I probably would have made a lot more money, but like I tell the kids, you have to know what your idea of success is. I have a happy home life, I'm happy at my job. I think I have an extremely successful life," Smith said.