Eliot Isaac: Cincinnati Police Chief, HRD Graduate

Nov 1, 2016

Before he became Cincinnati's Chief of Police this year, Eliot Isaac was a typical police officer rising through the ranks with the benefit of his first degree from Xavier.

He enjoyed it so much, he knew he had to come back. On Saturday, May 15, Chief Isaac graduated with a Master of Human Resource Development, a program he says has given him invaluable tools as the newest leader of Cincinnati's police force.

"I really enjoyed Xavier and the way they invest in the entire person and not just the subject matter," he says.

Isaac initially came to Xavier to finish his undergraduate degree he'd started years earlier at another school but stopped after joining the police force in 1988 and starting a family. He knew if he was to progress in his career, he had to finish, and in 2011 he graduated with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Organizational Leadership.

"It really appealed to me, and a couple years later I decided to pursue a graduate degree," he says. "I learned others had gone through the HRD program, and I really liked the emphasis the program gives on organizational diagnosis and being the leader of an organization of this size. It gives me perspective on the issues and challenges this organization is experiencing and learning more in depth about what goes into developing this program."

[[pullquote]]I really enjoyed Xavier and the way they invest in the entire person and not just the subject matter.[[/pullquote]]

Chief Isaac became a police captain in 2004, serving as Criminal Investigation Commander. From 2007 to 2012 he served as District Four Commander, Internal Investigations Section Commander and Department Night Chief. As chief, he has about 1,000 officers and 125 civilian employees under his command.

Isaac joins three others on his team who have completed the HRD program at Xavier-Sgt. Jennifer Mitsch, Lt. Col. Teresa Theetge, and Lt. Steve Saunders, the first Cincinnati officer to complete the program.

The department's investment in higher education has already proven beneficial. This spring, Isaac, Mitsch and Theetge used their HRD knowledge to organize a new witness support program that encourages witnesses to come forward and share what they know. The program provides personal support throughout the trial process and removes witnesses' fear of retaliation.

In April, they arrested and charged a suspect in the killing of young Kelsie Crow, whose shooting death at a sweet 16 party in 2015 was the inspiration for the witness program. Mitsch was the lead detective on Crow's case.

"The processes we learned through the HRD program were used to develop this," Isaac says. "We were able to talk in terms and language we learned from going through that HRD program-the process story-boarding and techniques were utilized to develop this program."