Anne Arundel County Gets New Police Chief

MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- In organizations, a new leader will often bring in new people for those top executive roles. And government is no different than business.

As Derek Valcourt shows us that's what happened in Anne Arundel County.

While in their first days on the job, cameras don't usually follow most new employees when they meet their new colleagues, but Kevin Davis has a very high-profile new job.

He's Anne Arundel County's new police chief--a choice made by the new county executive Laura Neuman.

Davis fills the shoes of Larry Tolliver, who left after making insensitive remarks. Tolliver became chief after Chief James Teare resigned. He was associated with--but never charged--in the scandal that put former County Executive John Leopold in jail.

"There's a cloud that has been lingering on top of this police department. And that cloud has cast a long shadow that unfortunately has served to cover great police work," Davis said.

He says it's his responsibility to move that cloud along.

The son of a cop, he's spent 21 years moving up at Prince George's County police. What he's being asked to do now, he says, is eerily similar to the rebuilding after a scandal happened there.

"We've taken in Prince George's County within a short amount of time, three years, and we've rebuilt the trust inside the community, inside the police department and within the community," Davis said.

Listen to the new chief for any time and you'll pick up one of his favorite words: trust.

"One relationship at a time, I will rebuild the trust on this agency. Cops, detectives, commanders need to trust their leader, they need to know that their leader has their best interest at heart," he said.

Davis promises no embarrassing politics on his watch.

"Aristotle says you are what you repeatedly do. I will build a track record of fair and consistent leadership," Davis said.

Shortly before that interview was conducted, while sitting at a stop light, the Baltimore Sun reports a Mercedes ran into his SUV and his police were called to investigate.

No injuries or damage were reported.