When Cedric Alexander, PsyD, was on the Miami police force from 1981–92, his fellow officers were floored by his ability to bring calm to any tense situation, whether it was a violent conflict between two people or the aftermath of a suicide or accident.
"They said I had an incredible gift to talk to people," says Alexander, who adds he's always enjoyed working with people and helping them out. "God blesses us all with gifts; we just have to figure out what they are."
In 1990, he decided to pursue this talent more fully, attending night classes to earn a master's degree in marriage and family therapy in 1992 and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Wright State School of Professional Psychology in 1997.
Since then, Alexander has pursued a career that blends his skills as a psychologist and an officer of the law. At the police department in Rochester, New York, he launched a mental health training program for officers. At the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, he transformed a low-functioning security department into a model of efficiency. And working for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, he oversaw training for all New York state police except those in New York City.
Today, he is the public safety director for DeKalb County, Georgia, where he oversees five departments: police, fire, animal control, emergency management and the medical examiner's office.
"Cedric changes the culture of organizations," says the Rev. Kenneth Dean, who worked with Alexander when he was on the Rochester police force. "He expects the best of people, and he helps them do their best."
Best of both worlds
Immediately after psychology graduate school, Alexander became assistant professor at the University of Rochester, where he taught for five years after doing a postdoctoral fellowship in family programs there.
As he became more immersed in the Rochester community, though, his police roots re-emerged. He got to know Rochester's then-mayor, Bill Johnson, who told him about the troubles plaguing the city's police department — among them, poor leadership, low morale and police officers who engaged in racist activities. Recognizing Alexander's skills as both a psychologist and former law enforcer, Johnson asked if he'd like to step in as deputy chief and help straighten out the department's problems.
The job combined the best of both of his worlds, Alexander says. As deputy chief, he kicked troublemakers off the force and brought in leaders with strong skills, including in racial fairness. Perhaps his most important reform was developing a 40-hour voluntary mental health training program for police officers, known as the Emotionally Disturbed Person Response Team. The effort brought together community mental health organizations, developmental health organizations, University of Rochester faculty in psychology and psychiatry, and community members to teach police officers how to assess mental health issues and talk to people in ways that could help defuse potentially violent situations.
"When officers respond to a scene, they're always in a crisis, so they learned how to slow down their speech to listen better and be as understanding and non-threatening as someone with a uniform can be," explains Alexander.
He designed the program so that in any incident with a mental health component — such as domestic violence — the offending party is sent to a mental health facility before going to the criminal justice system. "The program gets people where they need to be first, and that is to treat the mental health stressors that they are presenting with," he says.
These changes and more transformed the department, Dean recalls. "We needed someone who could promote teamwork and develop good leadership skills," he says. "Cedric was a natural for that and for bringing equal opportunity and fairness along racial lines."
In early 2006, Alexander was appointed deputy commissioner of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. There, he oversaw all police officer training for the state, and he took the opportunity to imbue more progressive methods of policing, including the skills he had taught the mental health team in Rochester.
Chauncy Parker, who was commissioner of public safety at the division when Alexander served as deputy commissioner, says Alexander was the first person in that role who was more than a career-track officer — and it showed.
"He was always approaching criminal justice with a very broad, creative perspective," says Parker.
Streamlining airport security
In 2007, Alexander took on another challenge when he became federal security director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As the person in charge of coordinating all security and regulatory affairs, he found a climate with poor leadership and other problems.
"There were people hired into management positions who quite frankly didn't have the appropriate skill sets to manage and motivate people," Alexander says.
He put his trademark strategies into motion, helping managers set clear timelines and performance goals for improving the speed of security processing and the accuracy of airplane safety investigations, for example. He also coached managers on how to better communicate with employees, gave them leadership training and set high performance standards.
By 2010, the airport's security department went from being disorganized and fractious in its security operations to being instrumental in the airport winning the "airport of the year" designation from the Department of Homeland Security.
"Dr. Alexander has the ability to quickly identify your comfort zone and challenge you to operate outside of it," says Mike Donnelly, who worked with Alexander as assistant federal security director for operations at the airport. "He also said we should never rest on our successes, since leaders should be focused on continuous improvement and on developing people."
Inroads in Georgia
In 2013, Alexander took his talents to another trouble spot, DeKalb County, Georgia, where he assumed the role of police chief for 1,300 officers and 300 civilian staff. The police department suffered from low morale and high turnover, and the local government was rife with corruption — the county's former chief executive officer awaits trial for 14 felonies, including bid-rigging and kickbacks.
Again, Alexander took the opportunity to rid the department of leaders known for their bad influence and of officers known for corrupt behavior. He rewarded remaining staff with perks they had told him would help them feel better about their jobs, such as getting their first raises in seven years and tuition reimbursement for officers looking to expand their skills.
Last December, county leaders promoted Alexander to deputy chief operating officer for public safety. Now, the chiefs and directors of the county's five public safety offices, including police, report to him.
"It's a great group of people who have been on the job for a long time and are doing a dynamic job," he says. "Now, our goal is to develop a single vision and a more integrated way of operating" so there is no unnecessary redundancy among departments' roles and duties, for example.
While Alexander credits psychology and leadership training for giving him the tools to lead these transformations, he praises those who work for him for using those tools to get something done.
"All I am is the coach," he says. "The people who do the work are the ones who make all of these changes possible."