Reuben Greenberg
The Police Chief as Do-Gooder

Born in 1943 and raised in Houston Texas, Reuben Greenberg, an activist in the 1960’s civil rights movement, received his college and graduate education in California. While he was protesting at a rally, a downpour forced him under an awning with a policeman who asked "If you don't like what we're doing, why not join the police?" After attending graduate school at University of California-Berkeley, he made his way around the country working in various positions in law enforcement until 1982 when he landed the job of Chief of Police in Charleston, South Carolina. Chief Greenberg’s mission is to reduce crime in "his" city, which he does by using strategies like these listed below:

• Enforcing a curfew against the children of parents who request him to do so, which allows him to use the curfew in a way that satisfies constitutional restraints.

• Removing graffiti the same day it appears. Greenberg says "the presence of graffiti means it's their turf. The absence means it is ours."
  
• Encouraging citizens to call him directly if they see a crime,
  particularly a drug crime.

Under Greenberg’s leadership, the rate of murder, robbery, and burglary have been cut back to pre-1960 levels. Police departments throughout the United States emulate his hands-on and no-nonsense approach to law enforcement, even though some question his tactics.

Though he enjoys success from publishing a book about his work and being offered better jobs in the field of police work, Mr. Greenberg remains in his job as Chief of Police of Charleston. He continues to be "on duty" even when he is off duty, and he will direct traffic or work one-on-one with a parent of a troublesome teenager. He is constantly thinking about how to "put the crooks out of business," and he will try different strategies to do just that. His primary operating principle is that just as he holds himself responsible for his own performance, he holds those who break the law responsible for their own behavior.