Deputy chief of police with the Emory Police Department (EPD) and director of EPD's Special Services Division, Edge heads up the Detectives Unit, First Responder and 911 Center at Emory. An EPD veteran of more than six years, Edge began his Emory career as a patrol officer, a job in which he learned the long-term value of building strong relationships with faculty, staff and students.
"Being in and out of the residence halls and building a relationship with the students there was nice," Edge said of his former EPD assignment. "I like walking through a residence hall and speaking to students, acknowledging them, and not having a face made out of stone or refusing to speak. Everybody has a bad day, and every time you speak to a police officer, he or she may not be the most pleasant person in the world. But by and large, we know that it's very important to have a good relationship with the community, and that's the emphasis we have."
After completing his degree, Edge knew he wanted to return to Atlanta and to police work, but not as a municipal or county police officer. "Emory was the place I really wanted to be," he said. Edge was hired as a patrol officer at Emory and subsequently was promoted to a lieutenant in the Detective Unit and then to his current position of deputy chief. He also completed his law degree at Atlanta Law School last September.
Because of his experiences in Cordele, Edge was able to translate his skills in community relationship building to the Emory campus. Edge believes the big difference between city policing and campus policing, however, is the role of community education and crime prevention. When an unusually high number of carjackings occurred in the area several years ago, EPD sent a flyer to all campus fax machines giving tips on how to avoid being carjacked. Those pointers included advice such as staying out of dark and isolated areas at night, how best to stop at a traffic light at night, and not going to an ATM alone or at night.
Being in law enforcement in general, and being a detective in particular, have been goals for Edge for as long as he can remember. "I think human beings as a rule are nosy," Edge said, "and I love getting paid to nose around. I like solving problems, and a crime is a problem.
One of the most difficult crimes Edge has helped solve at Emory occurred several years ago when an Emory manager was suspected of embezzling University funds. "That case involved a mountain of paperwork," said Edge, who decided to handle the case himself to avoid tying up one of his detectives for an extended period. "It involved issuing subpoenas for bank records and going through copies of thousands of personal checks that this manager had written, going through deposit slips, comparing the records [in the manager's office] with what had actually been deposited. It took about six months, and we proved that the manager had embezzled about $30,000."
What made the case even more difficult, Edge said, was the fact that the manager was a "well respected member of the community."
Those kinds of cases are rare at Emory, and despite the inherent difficulties of a career in law enforcement, Edge continues to be enamored of his job after almost 20 years in the business.
"I got into police work, honestly, to help people," Edge said. "Our primary goal is to provide a safe environment for education, research and scholarship, as well as patient care in Emory Hospital and The Emory Clinic. When we solve a crime and are able to arrest a perpetrator who has harmed someone or taken someone's property, it's a satisfying feeling to know that the justice system works and that we were able to bring a conclusion to that case."
--Dan Treadaway