Cerelyn "C.J." Davis (born ) is an American police officer who is the 13th director of police service for the Memphis Police Department. Davis is the Memphis Police Department's first Black female chief. Shortly after accepting her job she required that her title be officially changed to Police Chief.

Early life and education

Davis was born in

Fort Liberty Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 29,000 military personnel. The military reserva ...

into a military family. Davis has a degree in criminal justice from Saint Leo University. She graduated in 1998 after starting her studies at Georgia Military College; she has a master's degree in public administration from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

Career

Davis joined the Atlanta Police Department in 1986. In 2006 and 2007 she was Commander of the disbanded Red Dog unit; which used "aggressive crime fighting strategies in high crime areas citywide". She was demoted and then fired from the Atlanta Police Department in 2008 for her alleged involvement in a sex crimes investigation into the husband of an Atlanta police sergeant, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was reinstated after an appeal process. In the same year '' O, The Oprah Magazine'', named Davis as one of eighty women forming the ''O'' White House Leadership Project, ''Women Rule!''. She became deputy chief of the Atlanta Police Department, and in 2016, became chief of the

Durham Police Department The Durham Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency of Durham, North Carolina. Overview The Durham Police Department is a full service police department, having primary responsibilities for law enforcement and investigation wi ...

in North Carolina . Davis has served as president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. In 2020, Davis appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' calling for "sweeping changes and police reform" following the murder of George Floyd. Davis was sworn in as the Memphis police chief in 2021. In 2021, she created the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods Unit (SCORPION); which is associated with

killing of Tyre Nichols On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, was fatally injured by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, dying three days later. The officers, all members of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) SCORPION unit, pulled Nichols f ...

. She is the Memphis Police Department's first Black female chief, and is also the first female police chief of Memphis. In January 2023, Davis described the

as being a "defining moment" in the Memphis Police Department's history. She terminated the employment of five police officers associated with Nichols' death.

Personal life

Davis is married; she has one daughter and two grandchildren.

References

External links

Memphis Police Department
* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American police chiefs People from Fort Liberty, North Carolina American women police officers Saint Leo University alumni Central Michigan University alumni {{Authority control Georgia Military Institute alumni African-American police officers People from Durham, North Carolina