By: Melanie Tanaka

Sergeant Davis of the University of Oregon Police Department has been working for the university for eight years. He oversees officers, responds to calls and works with the community. (UOPD) Chief Carmichael adds, “Sergeant Davis teaches free self-defense classes and works with UO housing to help educate students about safety.” Davis appreciates having positive interactions with people in non-law enforcement settings. Davis says, “a lot of police work can be pretty negative. Having the opportunity to go out and interact with people and have it be a positive interaction. I think is what really drew me to stay here at the university.” Sergeant Davis reveals he was not always interested in law enforcement, his journey took time.

Sergeant Davis is from Elmira, Oregon. He attended Lane Community College and then transferred to Western Oregon University. Davis enjoyed his time in college and saw a career in engineering, so he decided to major in it. Davis worked hard as an engineer major and thought his classes were interesting, but he was not passionate about it. Davis wanted to have a career in something that he cared about and he wanted to help others. He decided to take an intro to criminal justice class because he thought it was intriguing and decided to give it a try. Class after class, he was drawn to criminal justice. This was the moment that Davis realized he was called to serve in law enforcement. He changed his major and was ready to commit to a life in law enforcement. Davis says, “I was interested in the way people think when they commit crimes and how I could change society for the better.” With his passion for serving the community, he began to research different police departments. Davis was hired as a University of Oregon public safety officer. He made the transition from a public safety department to a police department with the university and became a sworn police officer.

During Sergeant Davis’ eight years with the university, he has worked to make the campus safe and teach students how to protect themselves. He has recently been promoted to a sergeant with (UOPD), which is a great honor. (UOPD) Chief Carmichael says, “Sergeant Davis is a valued member of our department. He works hard and enjoys working with the community.” There is still room for Davis to move up in rank in the future, but for right now, he is going to work hard in his sergeant position. Sergeant Davis is looking forward to working with younger officers and he hopes to continue his work with the community.