NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After more than three decades with the North Little Rock Police Department, Chief Mike Davis is hanging up his badge and gun.
Davis will officially retire Sunday, March 1 — a decision he announced on the eve of his 34th anniversary with the department.
"It's just time," Davis said "It's tough. I love this profession. I love the people I work with and the citizens and the people we get to work with at city hall."
The City of North Little Rock will honor Davis with a public retirement ceremony on Thursday at 2 p.m. It will take place at the Patrick Henry Hays Center, located at 401 W Pershing Blvd.
Davis, a lifelong North Little Rock resident, joined the department on February 3, 1986. He worked in a number of the department's units, dedicating a large part of his career to working narcotics cases and battling street crime. He was also part of FBI Little Rock’s, MetRock task force.
Davis was sworn in as police chief on July 8, 2013.
"Every position that I was at as I went through the ranks, people would say 'how were you so successful?' it was always because I surrounded myself with the best," he said. "This is the most caring group of people I've ever been around."
And he cares deeply for the roughly 180 men and women who make up the city's police force. As his career progressed, Davis said he developed a fatherly instinct of sorts.
"I was doing the exact same thing they're all doing," Davis said of his officers. "Why am I so concerned? Well, I'm concerned because there's a lot going on in our country, and I want our men and women to go home safe and sound at the end of the day. I want us to do what we do right out on the street, and we don't always do it right."
Davis said perfection is impossible given the sheer number of interactions officers have with the community. each day.
Though Davis plans to leave many of his work-related worries behind in retirement, there are several unsolved cases that stick with him. Among those are the 2013 murder of Samantha Olson and the 2014 disappearance of Shequenia Burnett and Terkessa Wallace.
"Hopefully those answers will come at some point," Davis said.
In the meantime, he moves forward with a sense of gratitude -- eager for what lies ahead.
"I want to enjoy life right now," Davis said. "I have three grandkids. I want to do what normal people do."
He also plans to teach safety and security training at local churches.
"To the citizens, I just have to say thanks for the opportunity to let me serve," Davis said. "It's just a dream come true; it really has been."
Assistant Chief Tracy Roulston has been named interim police chief, effective March 1.