The College Park City Council invited former District 1 Commander Lt. Col. Kevin Davis to its meeting last night to thank him for reducing crime in the city.
But Davis also wanted to thank the council.
“I owe a big debt of gratitude to the City of College Park and District 1,” Davis said in an affable and heartfelt tone of voice. “We’ve come a long way.”
The meeting was the culmination of Davis’ three and a half years in charge of Prince George’s County Police District 1, which includes the city. His tenure saw the city’s crime rate drop as he worked with residents and councilmembers to implement a community-focused approach to policing, which he had promised to do when he first took the job.
“My approach is going to be, tell me how I can partner with you in an environment that’s going to be a learning environment,” Davis told The Diamondback in November 2005, when he took over as commander. “We can all live together.”
And now, more than 40 months later, Davis feels he succeeded in completing his two main goals: reducing crime across the board and improving relations with the community.
“Building those relationships [with the community] is something that requires a lot of work,” he said. “I threw my heart and soul into it. I felt a special obligation to this district.”
Davis was born and raised in College Park, and his father, also a police officer, worked his whole career in District 1.
In September 2006, just 10 months after Davis was appointed, crime in College Park began to drop significantly in virtually every area, including robberies, assaults and auto theft.
“He’s done very incredible things for District 1,” said Kim Lugo, the head of District 1 Neighborhood Watch. “He gave 100 percent for neighborhood watch. He’s a policeman’s policeman. I’m hoping that the new commander will continue along the same direction.”
As part of his community-building efforts, Davis gave Lugo an office in District 1 headquarters, a step previous commanders hadn’t taken. Lugo said Davis’ accessibility did wonders for the relationship between residents and police.
University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said Davis was an important part of improving relations between the two departments and called him one of the hardest working and most dedicated men he’d ever met.
“Kevin was great at reaching out to the community,” Dillon said. “He was really the face of District 1.”
District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook said the quick arrests in the recent rape of a student and the Christmas Eve assault at the Holy Redeemer Church serve as quintessential examples of what Davis has meant for the district.
“I think that he has been able to get his officers in the right place at the right time,” she said. “I think we can see that in that a couple really big crimes have been solved.”
Davis, who was promoted to deputy chief in charge of support services last week, also introduced the council to his replacement, Maj. Dan Dusseau.
Dusseau said it’s “both a blessing and a curse” to follow someone so successful, but that he is appreciative of the road Davis has paved for him.
“I see already that I’m stepping into a very solid foundation,” Dusseau said. “Right now, there’s a good plan. I believe in staying the course when there’s a good plan [in place].”
Davis says he’ll always have fond memories of his time in District 1 and repeated a few times that he’d only be stationed right down the road. With a smile, he left the meeting with a few final words to friends and reflected on his time in a bittersweet manner.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done,” he said. “I’ll always root for District 1.”
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