Lt. Eckhardt was a corrupt police officer who worked for crime boss Carl Grissom. He had a problem with Grissom's employee Jack Napier. During a discussion between Jack and Eckhardt, Jack tried to boss Eckhardt around by telling him to get rid of Harvey Dent. Eckhardt then replied to this request with "I answer to Grissom, not to psychos." Jack then intoned "why Eckhardt you ought to think about the future," promting the corrupt officer to mock his ovious aspirations for taking over Grissom's syndicate.
Eckhardt eventually becomes Grissom's go-to guy when Grissom wanted Jack rubbed out for sleeping with his arm-candy Alicia. Eckhardt and several other corrupt police officers stormed Axis Chemicals due to the fact they knew Jack should be there because that is where Carl Grissom tricked Jack into going. They eventually found Jack there and had a gun fight with him and the hoods that were loyal to him. However the hit went awry when Batman and James Gordon showed up. Napier had a brief conflict with Batman which leaves Napier on a catwalk which grants him strategic view of the entire factory. Jack then happens to notice Eckhardt trying to slip away. "Eckhardt!" called out Jack in an attempt to get his attention. Hearing Jack's voice, Eckhardt looked back to see where in the world Jack was and what he wanted to say to him. "Think about the future!" were Jack's last words to Eckhardt because as soon as Jack was done saying that, he shot Eckhardt which sended him flying on to some steam valves. Eckhardt then lied there on the steam valves, dead.