Photo by Ron Burkett.
Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush reflects on his first year as chief.
It is 4:15 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, and Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush will not be leaving the department too late.
Named chief on Sept. 11, 2018, Rush’s main surprise in the last year has been how much time he spends at work compared with when he was a lieutenant, captain and division commander.
“It’s just part of it,” he said. “I don’t mind it.”
It is a different type of work, being chief. Rush attends and leads many meetings and also handles a lot of paperwork. Much of what he does happens within the department’s walls. Rush, wearing a turquoise dress shirt, leans into his office chair and says his first year at the top of the department has been “all positive.”
“I haven’t really had any huge issues,” he said. “Mayor [Buddy] Choat is awesome. He is so supportive of public safety and all city services. The City Council is great to work with. That can’t be discounted.”
Rush’s office is windowless yet bright with personality. There are family photos, a piggy bank that dons a police cap, framed Auburn University photos, a Duck Dynasty-themed bobblehead and a three-tiered tray for all that paperwork. Gleaning stories from Rush about himself is tough.
“I’m a very humble person, and I don’t like to sit and talk about myself,” he said. “I like to focus on other things. It’s hard for me to express about myself because I’m kind of an introvert. Before I started policing, I was really an introvert, but you can’t be that way as a police officer.”
Rush quickly changes the subject back to his 64 sworn officers and how he encourages them to be approachable in the community. He remembers a scene from the movie “Roadhouse” during which Patrick Swayze’s character instructs his bar staff to “be nice until it’s time not to be nice.”
“It just stuck with me. That applies,” Rush said. “You’re going to be nice until you can’t be nice anymore because that person is not allowing you to be nice, and your reaction has to be the reaction to them and you have to control the situation. It’s a tough job.”
Rush said he is a democratic leader who gets input from his employees before making any decisions. He has staff meetings twice a week.
“Ultimately, it’s my decision, but I don’t just make a decision because that’s what I want,” he said. “I’ve got to look at what’s best for my department.”
He knows that each member of the department has certain strengths and weaknesses. He doesn’t micromanage, but he does observe a lot to learn those strengths and weaknesses. It’s all in an effort to make the department the best it can be.
“Above all, I’m going to do the right thing,” Rush said. “Ethically, morally, the right thing is going to be done. That’s just the kind of person I am.”
That sentiment is likely why he has not rushed to select a captain.
“I’m almost there. I’ve been kind of assessing things,” he said. “I didn’t want to make chief and immediately name a captain without really knowing how the guys work together and who’s best at what. People have strengths and weaknesses, so you have to feel them out.”
The department includes seven school resource officers, and this fall it will focus on online safety in the city’s three elementary schools through the new S.M.A.R.T. program. It will focus on the dangers of sharing personal information, not meeting up with people met online, being aware of posted information, responses online and telling an adult about inappropriate material.
Rush has read to students and encourages his officers to do the same.
“The younger kids really look up to you,” he said.
Rush has been with the department since 1996, beginning as a patrolman and becoming a detective in 2003. He worked criminal investigations for three years before becoming a field training officer and leading the training program for new recruits. He moved back to patrol and was promoted to sergeant over the motorcycle unit in 2006, before being promoted to patrol lieutenant in 2013. He commanded the patrol division for four years until being named captain.
“Being well-rounded has helped me tremendously because I know what that traffic guy’s doing, because I did it,” he said. “I know what that beat officer’s doing, because I did it. I know what that sergeant on night shift is like, because I did it. It’s not like I came from an outside department.”
In two years, Rush will have 25 years of public service and could retire. He started at the bottom of the department and could call it a career because he’s reached the top of the ladder. But he plans to stay.
“I’m not just going to maintain,” he said. “I’m going to build up the people around me, and I’m going to make the department the best that I can. I want it to be the best in the state. It might be lofty goals, but you’ve got to have a goal, right?”
