Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith is celebrating 25 years with LCSO, and even posted a throwback photo from early on in his career.

"25 years ago today, this young man reported for his first day of work and was sworn in as a Larimer County Sheriff's Deputy," Smith said in a Facebook post on Friday. "I honestly couldn't believe they were paying me to do something I loved so much."

While sitting on his back deck "listening to the birds sing and drinking a cup of coffee," Smith goes on to reminisce an incident that occurred before his first assigned work day that landed him the nickname "Justin Time."

Before my first assigned work day in Estes arrived, I stood outside my apartment one night and watched as Estes PD units initiated a chase headed out of town, towards Glen Haven and I knew the District car for the Sheriff's Office was unavailable.

I remember throwing on my vest, gun belt, radio and raid jacket and diving into my ["brand new" 1990 Jeep Cherokee] to catch up. In 1991, the switchbacks on County Road 43 were not paved. I learned that piece of information a little late as I narrowly avoided becoming a human missile trying to catch up with the chase heading towards Glen Haven.

I arrived, just as the PD boys were taking the motorist into custody. They looked over their shoulders as the new guy from the SO slid to a stop and baled out of his Jeep - earning the nickname Justin Time!

Thank you for your service, Sheriff Justin Smith! You say you feel blessed, but I think it's actually Larimer County and Northern Colorado that is blessed - we are so lucky and grateful to have a hardworking and caring Sheriff like you that cares so much about our safety and our rights. THANK YOU!

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