As new police chief, David Rausch about building relationships
David Rausch, right, gets sworn in as Knoxville’s new police chief by Judge John Rosson, Jr., left, during a ceremony at the Knoxville Museum of Art Mar. 25. (Photo by J.J. Kindred)
By J.J. KINDRED
J.Kindred@theknoxvillejournal.com
David Rausch has climbed from the bottom to the top of the mountain in the Knoxville Police Department, and now, he can finally rest. But not for long.
Rausch, who has served as the city of Knoxville’s deputy chief of police since 2009, was sworn in Mar. 25 as the city’s 25th chief of police during a ceremony at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Rausch replaces Sterling Owen IV, who announced his retirement in early February after almost seven years on the job.
He has served in the KPD since 1993, in many different roles. He was promoted through the ranks from officer to sergeant, sergeant to lieutenant, lieutenant to captain, captain to deputy chief, and ultimately, chief.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Rausch is a graduate of the University of Louisville, and enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Military Police Corps. He served with the 555th M.P. Company at Ft. Lee, Va., and with the Alpha Company Third Battalion of the U.S. Army Correctional Brigade at Ft. Riley, Kan.
After receiving a master’s degree in justice administration, he graduated from the 105th Administrative Officers Course at the Southern Police Institute, and many FBI training classes.
Rausch serves on different city boards, including the Volunteer Ministry Center, Boys and Girls Club of East Tennessee, Knoxville/Knox County E-911, Metropolitan Drug Commission and is in the Leadership Knoxville Class of 2011.
He took time out of his already demanding schedule to talk to The Knoxville Journal during a telephone interview Mar. 29.
The Knoxville Journal: How does it feel to have chief as your title now?
David Rausch: Well, it is actually a heck of an honor. This is a great police department. To have the opportunity to be in this position, to lead the quality that we have in this agency is quite an honor.
TKJ: Has this always been your goal?
DR: It has. To the folks here it hasn’t been a secret, because it was day two in the academy that they asked — and they always do this at every police academy — as sort of an ice breaker, why did you choose to come to Knoxville and what are your goals? I made it very clear that my goal here was to obtain the title Chief of Police.
TKJ: Even though you were the deputy chief, did you think you had a chance to become chief once Chief Owen announced his retirement?
DR: I felt very confident. When IV (Owen’s nickname) told us that he was retiring, he announced it to the staff, and he stated that he made a recommendation to the mayor to select a successor from within. I’m very familiar with the competition here. At the time there were four of us at the deputy chief rank, and we would be interviewed for the selection. Knowing the quality of competition as it is, I certainly wasn’t overly confident. I respect the other three deputy chiefs — they are all quality folks and they are certainly capable of running a department. It was an honor to be selected from the quality that we have. The other three have been here longer than I have, 30 years or more with the department. To have the opportunity to be the new guy with 18 years on the block and competing against the three of them was a challenge. I knew that I had qualities that the other three did not have, and that’s what I focused on as I went into the interviews.
TKJ: How do you feel about the state of the department? Do you have any long-term goals?
DR: Certainly. Like I said, this is a great police department, but great departments don’t stay great by just sitting around and waiting for things to happen. They stay great because we are constantly looking to how we can continue to make this a better place. The focus is on how do we keep this community safe, get the initiatives we need to implement, what things do we need to do better, and what do we need to not do? We are constantly evaluating how we do our business as crime trends change and crime types change, and how our resources are pulled to affect investigative response to the boots on the ground with our patrol officers. My long-term goals are to move our department forward and have new innovation in policing, and be an agency where other departments around the country will come and look and see how we are doing things that they can implement into their departments.
TKJ: Will you do anything differently from Chief Owen?
DR: You know, that’s interesting. We have different styles. What I learned from IV that I will continue is that he was really top notch at building relationships. I learned a lot from him in that realm. I will continue where he started with building the great cooperatives, partnerships and relationships we have with our agency, other agencies, and community groups and organizations. As far as the specifics on how we do our job, I will put my own touch to it as far as my knowledge of being in this community, and working as a police officer for 18 years.
TKJ: Have you had a chance to look at the departmental budget? Do you see good things, bad things?
DR: I have looked at the budget. The thing is we’re in lean times as everyone is. We ask for the very basics — things that we know will help us get along for the next year. Seventy-four percent of our budget is manpower, and there’s not a lot of play when we’re looking at how we’re utilizing our funds. There are a lot of additions that we get done through grant work, and we know that some of that is getting tighter as well. Federal government, as well as state government, is having a hard time as well. We recognize that we’re going to have to do more with less, which are the best kind of words that are going around for everybody. It’s positive, and I don’t see anything major hurting us in this next year.
TKJ: Looking at your force, do you think you have enough to deal with major crime issues? Are you satisfied at this point?
DR: I think we are. When I look at KPD itself, I think we are in a great spot for what we have. When you look at major and violent crime, we have a very low rate in our city. We’re in a pretty good spot. What pushes our numbers, and what pushed the numbers of crime in our city, is property crime, and there are reasons for that. I think that they’re crimes of opportunity — they are easy to do and they pay off. What drives those crime numbers up is the current issue of our addiction problems that society is facing right now. Focusing on prescribed medication, it’s not what it used to be. It was about illegal narcotics when I was in the streets, now it’s about legal controlled substances. It’s become an epidemic on how it affects and who it affects. It makes people do things you would not normally see people do, like stealing property to get money to obtain the substances. Initiatives are being working on, with some changes in judicial and correctional processes.
TKJ: What kind of advice did Chief Owen give you?
DR: The thing was he has been giving me advice for almost seven years. We have talked almost regularly and on a daily basis. As he was going out the door, his statement to me was, ‘You’re ready.’ He said be cautious, be smart and you’re going to do fine.
TKJ: Lastly, how do you want the KPD to view you?
DR: That’s a good, tough question! (laughs) They know who I am. The officers here, the employees here — they know me. They know that what they’ll get is someone who will support them, and who will work hard as anyone can to assure that our agency is the best agency, and that we’ll do what we need do to protect this community, and take care of those who are working here in this department. I would hope they would view me as their friend, as their confidante, and someone they can count on to make sure this agency has what it needs, the officers have what they need, and the employees have what they need to get our mission accomplished.
