Davis first served as a Prince George's County Police Department patrol officer in 1992, before being promoted as the police chief in 2009.[3][5] In 2012, under police chief Davis, the Prince George's County Police Department recorded one of its lowest homicide rates since 1986.[3] He then became the police chief for the Anne Arundel County Police Department a year later before resigning in December 2014.[5][6]
In January 2015, Davis became the deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, serving under commissioner Anthony Batts.[7] On July 8 that year, then-Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake replaced Batts with Davis as the interim commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department.[8][9] The Baltimore City Council voted in favor for Davis to officially become commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department on October 19, 2015, with Davis having acted as the commissioner since the firing of Batts.[10][11] However, several hours later, protestors occupied Baltimore City Hall in protest of the appointment of Davis as the commissioner of the city's law enforcement agency, which resulted in the arrest of 16 protestors.[12][13]
In 2016, 300 homicides were recorded in Baltimore, a slight decrease in homicides from the previous year, but Davis responded "we're still not where we want to be".[14] However, a year later, the homicide rate increased to 343 deaths, which was recorded as the highest rate of yearly homicides ever in Baltimore.[15] As a result, on January 19, 2018, Davis was fired and replaced with Darryl D. De Sousa as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department by Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh, with Pugh stating that she was "impatient" with Davis regarding increasing crime rates in the city.[16][17][18] Davis later stated that serving as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department was an "honor of his lifetime".[19]
On April 23, 2021, Davis was named as the police chief of the Fairfax County Police Department, first serving on May 3.[20][21] However, on May 26, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee called for Davis to be fired as the police chief of the Fairfax County Police Department after concerns over his law enforcement history.[22] Despite this, Davis continued to serve as the police chief of the law enforcement agency, although certain types of crime, including domestic violence and motor vehicle theft, rose during Davis' tenure.[23] Davis, along with the Fairfax County Police Department, also faced a staffing shortage in 2022, prompting Davis to declare a staffing emergency in July that year.[24][25] He later announced a plan to hire additional officers and to modernize the law enforcement agency.[26] Thereafter, in 2023, a record number of new recruits were admitted into the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.[27] Davis serves as a regular featured speaker at MPD's DC Police Leadership Academy.
In 2023, Davis was involved in several controversies. In April, Davis announced a ban on virtual, recorded meetings in September that year in all districts of Fairfax County, Virginia. This prompted Bob Sledzaus, chairman of the Reston Community Advisory Committee, to resign, stating "this, however, remains simply a premise — unsubstantiated, despite repeated requests for substantiation".[28] In October, the Fairfax County NAACP condemned Davis for ignoring increasing gun-related deaths and racial inequality.[29]
In March 2024, Davis accused Herndon, Virginia, police chief Maggie DeBoard of racism after confronting her over an issue involving the city's police graduation certificates being signed in non-English, which resulted in DeBoard requesting a reissue of the certificates to be signed in English instead. Shortly after, DeBoard described Davis's accusation as "inappropriate".[30]
Personal life
Davis is married to his wife, Lisa. They have four children together.[2] In 2019, Davis was selected to receive a fellowship by the Open Society Foundations, later being named as the government fellow in the foundation network.[31][32]
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