By the time he retired last month, he had been a police officer for 30 years, including 12 as Smithfield’s chief. Along the way, he witnessed hostage situations, street brawls and gang violence.

“Thirty years seems like a long time, but damn, it feels like yesterday,” Gillikin said at a retirement social.

“Y’all are the ones that did all the work,” he added, speaking to a crowd of police officers, department staff, public officials and friends.

Many officers said they would remember Gillikin, a native of Harkers Island, for the fighting spirit and strong leadership he brought to the department.

“He made it for the next man comin’,” said Capt. Joey Cuddington, a retired 30-year officer who served 10 years with Gillikin. “He brought some professionalism we sorely needed, a little foresight and ambition.”

On the force, Gillikin was notorious for his “Harkers Island Hell-fit,” a verbal barrage that could put just about anybody back in line. But the next minute, Cuddington said, he would have his arm around your shoulder.

Detective Walter Martin, a 24-year officer, said the length of Gillikin’s career was impressive.

“You don’t see that all that often; officers get frustrated; they say, ‘Bad hours, bad money,’” Martin said. “It’s good to see our guys make it through.”

His years in law enforcement brought plenty of action and experience for Gillikin. On Valentine’s Day 1998, he faced an armed robbery-turned-hostage situation at the Oneida Store in Smithfield.

“I’d been on the job for five months,” he said. “I’m thinking, this could be the shortest police-chief career in history.”

But the perps surrendered to negotiators, and Gillikin moved on to years of new challenges.

Police work has changed since Gillikin joined the force in Atlantic Beach.

One of the biggest modern issues is the spread of violence and gangs, he said.

“When I first got in law enforcement, once in a while you’d see someone with a gun, with a knife,” he said.

“Today, so many people that we encounter are violent confrontations. The propensity’s there for violence, and there are so many guns on the street.”

But even as threats change, Gillikin said, Smithfield pursues a proven solution: a top-notch police force. “We have good, competent people in place,” he said. “One of our challenges, with the economy being the way it is, is to maintain the staff that we have.”

Gillikin considers himself a “people person,” and he said connecting with the officers and the public was his favorite part of the job.

“You’re serving the public and making the community a better place to live,” he said.

“I’ve tried to instill in the officers that this was the public’s police department; it didn’t belong to us; it was theirs.”

And his greatest achievement, he thought, was the caliber of the force he led in Smithfield.

Mayor Norman Johnson stopped by Gillikin’s retirement social to congratulate the chief and grab a slice of cake. Gillikin’s retirement, he said, was well deserved.

“As a citizen and as the mayor, I think Chief Gillikin did a good job for the town. I really do,” Johnson said.

“He’s certainly earned a good, long retirement.”

Now that it’s over, Gillikin is looking forward to a relaxing summer.

“I’ve worked every summer since I was 9 years old, on a shrimp boat, or in farming, or whatever,” he said. He’ll spend the summer golfing and hanging around the beach with family. Gillikin married his wife, Sherri, in November and has two daughters: Emily, 15 and Casey, 21, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.