LWOB 2025: Leadership Presentation: “Championing Professional Staff Leadership: Elevating the Future of Public Safety”

Kevin Davis currently serves as the 11th police chief for the Fairfax County Police Department—Virginia’s largest police agency and the nation’s 33rd largest.

Davis led the Baltimore Police Department as its 39th police commissioner from 2015 to 2018, following a period of historic unrest and during the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil rights investigation. Davis negotiated a federal court-ordered consent decree with DOJ during a presidential transition of power. He has substantial crisis leadership experience under a national spotlight while leading reform initiatives in mental and behavioral crisis response, use of force, training, and technology that received industry attention and accolades. Davis has built a reputation as a collaborative leader and consensus builder amongst diverse community groups, faith communities, elected officials, law enforcement peers, and business partners.

Prior to leading the nation’s eighth largest police department in Baltimore, Davis served as police chief for the Anne Arundel County Police Department and retired as the assistant police chief for the Prince George’s County Police Department, both located in Maryland. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and FBI National Executive Institute. Davis served on the board of directors for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, as vice-chair of the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, first vice president of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, member of the Maryland Governor’s Justice Reinvestment Oversight Board, and member of the Commission on Judicial Disabilities.

Recognized by the Maryland Daily Record as an Influential Marylander, Davis earned a master’s degree in management from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. He has been recognized by the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association with its Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service and is one of 18 alumni from DeMatha Catholic High School ever to receive its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

A fourth-generation public safety servant, Davis was born and raised in College Park, home to Maryland’s flagship University, and where he was later awarded the Key to the City.

During a stint in the corporate world, Davis served as GardaWorld’s Director of Security Consulting Services and chief security officer for Armored Things in Boston. He was an adjunct professor at American University and lecturer at the Catholic University of America, both in Washington, DC.