Jay Gruber

Chief of Georgetown University Police Department
Age: 51
Hometown: Kensington, Md.
Time at Georgetown: nearly 2 years

What drew you to your field?
I took a couple of criminal justice classes at the University of Maryland as an undergraduate and just found it to be fascinating. So really I’ve been drawn to it since college.

What drew you to Georgetown?
It’s the cache of Georgetown. I knew that they had a police department here that was well established, and I knew a little about it, and I thought that I could bring what I’ve about law enforcement over twenty-six years here to help with the department, to help with the university, as they say.

Was there anything in particular you saw that needed improvement?
I noticed a lot of internal, logistical things. I knew that the university was anticipating going through a hard budgetary cycle and there were a lot of things I did when I first got here to help reduce our fiscal footprint to help the university out.

What is the greatest challenge you face in your position?
The greatest challenge for me is providing a safe environment for our students while still allowing the freedom of an open campus.

Can you describe a memorable encounter you’ve had on the job?
Probably meeting the former FBI director, Robert Muller. He wanted to meet with me and we sat down here and had an hour-long casual conversation about things.

Are there any common misconceptions you notice about GUPD?
There are some misconceptions on the student side that we’re just here to break up parties and stomp on their fun, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I think, from the faculty perspective, we’re often viewed as not being very effective.

Have you noticed any shift in perception since the name change from DPS to GUPD?
I think that people understand our core mission better, that we are their police department and we are providing police services to them. I think it’s helped a lot.

When dealing with such events as the ricin incident, GUPD has had to work with both Metro and federal law enforcement. How do you respond to the shift in jurisdiction?
It’s really codified, the jurisdiction that we have in any situation. There are certain crimes that we must bring the Metropolitan Police Department in for, so it’s second nature for us to know what we do and don’t call MPD for. We rarely work with our federal partners; the McCarthy case is probably the prime example of that.

Do you see ways in which Georgetown or GUPD need further improvement?
I think it involves a culture change. I think a fresh perspective is sometimes needed, and you have to learn to think asymmetrically to solve problems, and I think that’s a long-term continuing challenge.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in law enforcement?
I’d probably be in the fire rescue field. I’m a volunteer firefighter; I’ve been doing that for thirty years.

Interview by Alexander Brown