Kristopher Baumann, 39, heads the D.C. police union. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, he joined a small police department in Oregon, where he earned a law degree. He then got a master’s degree in tax law at New York University. Baumann moved to D.C. to work as a lawyer at the U.S. tax court, but missed police work and joined the Police Department in 2002.
What are you most proud of?
Being a police officer.
What are the biggest challenges for the Metropolitan Police Department?
Providing resources to everyone, regardless of where they live. Crimes east of the river are not front-page news, but that should have no impact on how we police. Rebuilding morale and respect, stabilizing our work force, and making this a department where people want to work.
How do you think the new police chief [Cathy Lanier] is doing?
Very well. The chief has started to clean house and assemble her command team, and her selections have done a great job. She has started out strong by reaching out to officers and making it clear that she wants the police to actually police.
How does that compare with the previous chief?
Chief Lanier inherited a mess. The department has now acknowledged that the crime numbers Chief [Charles] Ramsey presented were inaccurate. We now know that instead of crime being down, crime actually increased.
The department lost over 1,000 officers in the last four years. Officers simply could not tolerate what was happening in this agency and left. All of the money spent on recruiting, training and development has been lost. Those policies also left us unable to effectively recruit and retain officers.
