Ronald L. Davis was appointed by United States Attorney General Eric Holder in November 2013 as the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The COPS Office is responsible for advancing community policing nationwide and supporting the community policing activities of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. To date, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion in the advancement of community policing. The COPS Office currently manages over 2,000 active grants totaling $1.4 Billion.
In December 2014, President Obama appointed Director Davis to serve as the Executive Director of the newly created President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The President charged Director Davis and the Task Force with developing concrete recommendations to improve community trust in the police while enhancing public safety.
Prior to serving as COPS Director, Davis had a distinguished career in law enforcement serving 8 years as Chief of Police of East Palo Alto (CA) and 20 years with the Oakland (CA) Police Department. Davis was recognized for his innovative community policing efforts and for working collaboratively with the community to dramatically reduce crime and violence in a city once named as the murder capital of the United States.
Davis also worked closely with the DOJ in the past, serving as a policing expert for the department's Civil Rights Division. While in this capacity, Davis served on two federal monitoring teams with oversight of police-reform consent decrees between the DOJ and the Washington, D.C., and Detroit Police Departments.
Davis is the co-author of the Harvard University and National Institute of Justice publications,Race and Policing: An Agenda for Action, and Exploring the Role of the Police in Prisoner Reentry. He is co-author of the DOJ publication, How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends on It and a contributing author to the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) publications: Chief Concerns: The Use of Force and Early Release of Prisoners and Its Impact on Police Agencies and Communities in California.
Davis possesses a Bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University and has completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.