Interview with Captain Josh Ederheimer

Captain Josh Ederheimer, Metropolitan Police Department (Washington, D.C.)

"From the Field Experiences" Feature
Interview conducted in February, 2009

Biography

Joshua A. Ederheimer is a Captain with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of the District of Columbia. He currently commands the Second Police District's operational support teams, which include the Narcotics, Tactical, Auto Theft, Missing Person, and Hit and Run investigative units. Additionally, he is responsible for the District's cellblock operations and various administrative functions, as well as uniformed patrol services in the northern part of the Second District. The Second District is the largest of the Department's Districts, and its more than 350 officers patrol diverse neighborhoods that include numerous residential and commercial areas, universities, and a significant number of international embassies and consulates.

Captain Ederheimer joined the MPD in 1985, and steadily moved through the ranks. As a member of the MPD, he served in a variety of areas including patrol, investigations, and administration. Captain Ederheimer reengineered numerous agency processes, and developed and led several divisions that emerged as national models. Notable during his tenure were several units that he developed or reengineered and subsequently commanded, including the Civil Rights and Force Investigations Division, Public Housing Division, and Environmental Crimes Division.

Captain Ederheimer left the MPD in 2004 to become Director of the Police Executive Research Forum's (PERF) Center on Force & Accountability (CFA) in Washington, D.C. As founding Director of the CFA, Captain Ederheimer developed the center in order to provide guidance to law enforcement organizations—nationally and abroad—on police use of force, accountability, and management issues. He led both federally and privately supported national police initiatives and provided technical assistance to law enforcement agencies on various critical topics. In 2007, Captain Ederheimer returned to the MPD to serve in the administration of newly appointed Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier. He led Chief Lanier's transition team, and later was appointed as Director of Training.

Captain Ederheimer serves on several professional boards. He was appointed to the District of Columbia Police Standards and Training Board by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, and was appointed by Chief Lanier to the District of Columbia Police Foundation Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund, where he was appointed by PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler, and on the Board of the International Law Enforcement Forum.

Captain Ederheimer has written extensively, and published and edited numerous books, publications, and technical reports. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University's Department of Law, Justice, and Society, where he has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. He holds a bachelor's degree in Justice from American University, and a master's degree in Management and Leadership from Johns Hopkins University.

Interview

When you look at the landscape of police staffing now, it seems agencies are having contradictory experiences—some agencies are laying off officers while others are on a hiring binge. Is there a big picture currently with respect to a recruitment/retention crisis? Has the well-publicized staffing crisis changed?

Last year at this time, there was obviously no question, there was - and there still is - a need, both operational and political, to hire more police officers. As for MPD, I was under incredible pressure to hire. I made sure we maintained our standards, but we were trying anything to attract people. We were up against other agencies that were offering signing bonuses. Now, the landscape has changed, because it's about money. Some agencies still have been able to maintain their funding that they had in previous years based on their hiring goals. But we've seen talks about layoffs and furloughs, or just not hiring. In New York, they were talking about canceling their recruit class. So it's definitely having an impact. I also think that the stimulus package might defer some of these trends that we're seeing because it could encourage more hiring.

Why do you think it "might" have that effect?

It depends on when the money gets to the jurisdiction. If it comes quickly, it'll have an impact right away. There's a lag time for hiring when you have candidates who are eligible, and you might have to re-do background checks and go through the whole process of hiring again. There will be delays. But if the money comes from the feds, it'll get things back on track.

In what ways is the economy impacting staffing needs of MPD in particular? Your department showed some high staffing needs at the RAND symposium last year, and outlined a pretty aggressive path to meet those needs. Has it changed?

Well in DC, it has not changed all that much, because the mayor stands beside the police department. None of our numbers have changed, our goals are still the same. We haven't deferred anything, we haven't laid off people, we haven't even offered early outs. Everything is still on track. But I will say that it depends on the jurisdiction: in DC, with our budget, we haven't been that badly affected. The places like DC that have been able to weather the economy pretty well because of similar budgets will stay on track and continue to hire police officers.

What has been the response to the Metropolitan Police Department's aggressive hiring strategy? Have you seen success?

Oh yes, absolutely. And honestly, the recruiting environment has gotten a little bit better with the downturn: it's a good government job, aside from the mission and the goals, it's one of the few jobs left that has a guaranteed retirement and health care. I will have a terrific retirement with annual cost-of-living increases and healthcare for the rest of my life. Not many jobs offer that. So it's an attractive job when you combine a mission of service with the romanticism of law enforcement, and with the downturn economy, we could be doing pretty well in recruiting. When you have New York not hiring, and you have Prince George's County furloughing, and agencies that are laying off, it's a good situation for agencies that are hiring.

Your department specifically went after the 20-25 year old demographic. What was the impact of that particular target strategy?

We've gone after the technologically astute demographic, which happens to be a lot of young people. We're reaching them better through our website, text, and emails. The inauguration itself was almost a built-in recruiting tool for the MPD. We've also been more than satisfied with the older recruits who have been laid off and want to try something different, because it's nice to have a more mature recruit who knows the responsibilities. So all demographics are what we are after. It's not been an overwhelming majority of younger people, but all ages really.

Let's assume an aspiring officer wants to start a police career and he/she is looking at the MPD. Who else do you see yourselves competing with?

Well I can answer that by saying who we are not competing against. For that age group, we are not competing against the feds. We are competing against the feds with those who have gotten a little time on and have gotten a little bit older, they might be interested in going over. But for the younger recruits, our main competition is the other area police departments. Last year, it was local agencies like Prince Georges County (MD), Montgomery County (MD), Alexandria Police (VA), and Arlington Police (VA). But now with all these economic issues, with some agencies furloughing, and those holding off on hiring, I think DC is pretty well positioned. It's kind of like Southwest Airlines, a company taking advantage of the downturn to get new customers. So like corporations who are taking advantage of the downturn, that's kind of the way MPD is looking at it.

To follow up on that, do you see your agency as a bridge for younger recruits between a police career and a career in federal law enforcement? Is that a problem?

We have not seen a massive outflux of people, but it is a concern because you're going to lose good people. But I think it's worth it because the caliber of person who may transition over to a federal position is someone we're going to have for many years. I think that's a good thing for the department. We'll take that caliber of employee for a limited number of years.

You called for a tighter relationship between researchers and practitioners. Do you see that strengthened relationship benefiting police agencies with regard to staffing? If so, how?

I think it should be both. Research organizations should hire more people who have served in law enforcement. I don't mean the entire staff, but one or two, and if not those who have retired with 20 years, then some with maybe 5 years of experience. I think that would help the research organization with credibility and access. The other way around is important, police departments are so closed-minded that it's going to take a progressive leader in a chief to be open to research organizations. I would love to see a fellowship exchange where research organizations would have one or two of their staff accept a fellowship with a city police department, and vice versa. I know for research organizations that's easier said than done, because you need to pay these people and they have to have funding. Unless they're connected to a project, you can't let someone go for six months. How are you going to pay for their salary if you don't want to pay for it with your overhead? I understand that because I understand the research scene. I would like to see more sworn people exposed to police research. The leaders have to decide how to do that.

There's quite a bit written about the "practitioner reaching back to research" to gain knowledge about implementing certain programs and tools—do you see that happening, and, if so, how?

I think so, because agencies are going to be looking to research organizations to give them guidance. If you look at law enforcement organizations, they don't have a lot of people with the skill set that researchers have. So we need that. I think that the stimulus will provide for additional funding for partnerships. There may be some research-oriented grants coming out of BJA, NIJ, or the COPS office after that, and there will be great opportunities for partnerships there. It comes down to having the money to do it, because police departments don't want to give up too much unless there's going to be a substantial contribution by a research organization. And they can't do that unless there's funding.

You're in a unique, multicultural urban environment in Washington. How do you staff to reflect that?

You have to know your community. I hope that police departments do this, we've done an analysis of the makeup of the community and we try to recruit consistent with its attributes. We haven't been entirely successful, because I know that we have a large Ethiopian community in Washington, and we are looking for officers that speak Amharic to connect with that community. We're always actively looking for people who can do that, and our mayor's office has an Office of Latino Affairs and an Office of Asian/Pacific Islander Affairs. We work with them pretty closely and leverage them for recruiting purposes. Another avenue is connecting with the business community and partnering with business owners, because they love the idea of more officers who speak the language of their culture.

Let's talk about retention. What are the biggest challenges faced by the MPD with respect to retaining officers when they may be mobile?

We've been pretty lucky here at MPD, and that hasn't been too much of a retention problem. Our attrition rate is low, and didn't raise any red flags. If we are going to lose people, we're going to lose them the first year, and the thing that is the biggest contributing factor there is the nature of the work, especially the schedule. If you want a 9-to-5 job, then law enforcement is probably not the job to take. In DC it is even more complex because we have all these details, such as demonstrations, and restrictions where days off are cancelled. So it is not the most conducive profession for people who want absolute stability.

Once we begin to emerge from the recession, what do you see large urban departments needing with regard to staffing? Paint a five-ten year picture.

For sworn police officers, I think we're going to be on track. Large cities have that niche where you tell anybody in the country that "I work for the Metropolitan Police Department," and there is a recognizable niche. Big cities have that, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and so forth—so I don't really see MPD having that sort of issue in five years. I think with the economy coming around, we're not going to have a problem finding and recruiting good people. After five years when the economy gets better, I'm not so sure. The younger generation is less able to put up with a lot of this bull. The paramilitary environment, working permanent evenings and you're working every weekend, a lot of the younger generation doesn't want to do that. I think police departments are going to have to be a little creative and progressive. We're not doing anything in DC about it because, right now, demand is exceeding supply and it prevents us from worrying about it. We can be selective. But I see much more flexible schedules, guaranteeing a part of the weekend off—those sort of things will be common. What really keeps us on is the buildup of retirement.

Do you see a young recruit being able to think that far ahead that retirement benefits are an attraction for them?

Well, where that helps out is retention. Eight years later when they're 30 and they have a kid, I think that will help them stay. I think what attracts them from my experience is the reputation of the agency, where the agency is located, what uniforms the officers have, and the cars and the equipment that they have. That's what attracts the youngest recruits.

The LAPD has a video presentation that resembles a sit-com type reality show. Has the MPD considered anything like this?

I made the recommendation to do something like the FOX reality show "The Academy" in DC, but it was rejected. I contacted the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department about it, and their applicant rate went up 30% because of that show. I mean it's a risk, but look at what the rewards are. It's in a controlled setting unlike other programs, and they have an editorial sign-off , but the risk has pros and cons. "COPS", the new show about homeland security, the TV show about NCIS—those cause applications to skyrocket. The benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks with that kind of tool.