Edward M. Davis

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Edward Michael Davis (November 15, 1916 – April 22, 2006) was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from (1969-1978), and later a California State Senator from (1981-1993) and an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 1986. Davis' name was familiar to a generation of Americans since it appeared on its own card for "technical advice" in the closing credits of the popular television programs Dragnet (1967-70) and Adam-12 (1968-75).

Born in Los Angeles, California to James Leonard Davis and Lillian Fox Davis, Davis married Virginia Osborne in 1940 before serving in the United States Navy during World War II. During his term as Chief, Davis was also quite controversial: the LAPD became notorious for its policy of routinely using chokeholds for any reason—or for no reason at all—during arrests, Terry stops, and even traffic stops. The holds were often applied until the suspect passed out. By the time the policy was halted in May 1982 by the Police Commission, 15 people had died. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a lawsuit seeking an injunction to halt the practice permanently, because Adolph Lyons could not prove that there was a substantial and immediate likelihood that he personally would be choked again. City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95 (1983). As well, during his tenure, the LAPD and its vice squad were known for active policing against gays. Zealous officers are purported to have dangled a youth over a cliff to try to make him reveal names of a pedophile ring. Davis was often known for some of his colorful language. For instance, in one of his most famous off-the-cuff news comments, Mr. Davis said, in 1972, concerning airline hijackers: "I recommend we have a portable gallows, and after we have the death penalty back in, we conduct a rapid trial for a hijacker out there, and hang him with due process out there at the airport."[1] On April 10, 1976, over a hundred officers, with Davis present, raided a charitable "slave auction" event. Dozens of men were detained on charges of violating an 1899 anti-slavery statute, but the expensive raid was criticized by the city council and no one was convicted. See also the wikipedia article on the LAPD.

Davis was an intelligent police chief who pursued innovative approaches to crime. He balanced his tough law-and-order rhetoric with a boots-on-the-ground policing strategy that assigned officers to specific neighborhoods in an effort to build personal ties with residents. His philosophy was incorporated in a program he called the "Basic Car Plan", which divided Los Angeles into small geographical areas and assigned officers to meet with community representatives. Davis, who assigned almost 900 officers to the program, believed that police would be more effective if their duties were tailored to each locality. The officers were instructed to find out which crime problems concerned residents the most and then devise crime-fighting plans. He also created the Neighborhood Watch program which encouraged police officers to spend time in the homes of local city residents, listen to their concerns and then set up effective crime fighting initiatives. Both programs were highly innovative for their time. Significantly, in the 9 years that Mr. Davis served as police chief from 1969 to 1978 crime rates actually dipped slightly by 1% in Los Angeles while rising nationwide by 55%. His administration was respected for being one of the more professionally run, and mostly graft free police forces in the country. The community policing programs which Davis championed were either deemphasized or dismantled by the next chief, Daryl F. Gates, but was re-adopted by later LA police administrations after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots caused by the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King and is now utilized by police departments nationwide as an alternative to more confrontational approaches to crime.

Davis retired in 1978 and was elected to the California State Senate two years later. He would serve for 12 years (during the first two years of which Tom McClintock served as his Chief of Staff.). He supported a gay rights protection bill and became a vocal environmentalist in his later years.[2]

The last TV interview with Davis was videotaped in March of 2002 where he recalled his years as LAPD Chief and described the values and traits necessary to be a successful Chief of Police. He also related his impressions of a young LAPD Lt. named Bernard Parks who went on to become Chief. Ed Davis was known as the "Father of Community Policing", in this interview he described how he implemented the "community policing" program during his administration. The hour long interview was conducted by Emmy Award winning host Leslie Dutton on the Full Disclosure Network. [3]

Davis died in April 2006 from pneumonia.