Robert L. Davis

Senior Vice President and Managing Director
West Coast Operations and Senior Leadership Council

Robert Davis is a highly regarded and innovative national leader and expert in policing and public safety with a special emphasis on ethics and integrity programs. As Senior Vice President and Managing Director at Hillard Heintze, Davis is responsible for the firm's West Coast operations and leads the Hillard Heintze Senior Leadership Council (SLC).

Most recently, as a member of the SLC, he distinguished himself as a critical advisor and senior team member on a high-level 2011 engagement that Hillard Heintze conducted in partnership with DHS's Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute to evaluate the existing integrity and counter-corruption programs within U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Innovation has been the cornerstone of his career in policing and public safety. A 30-year veteran of the San Jose, California Police Department (SJPD), Davis rose from patrol officer to Chief of Police of the tenth-largest city in the nation (2004-2010). He gained recognition for his progressive use of technology, his sensitivity to the diversity of the citizens under his protection and his internationally lauded model of gang prevention, intervention and suppression.

Davis' oversaw what has historically been the lowest-staffed police department of any major city in the country – with only 1.2 sworn officers per 1,000 residents (the national average is approximately 2.6 officers per 1,000 residents). According to the FBI – and, in many respects, a clear measure of Davis' leadership in recent years – San Jose is routinely ranked one of the safest "big cities" in America. This distinction is even more remarkable given that the Department received this accolade amid seven straight years of budget cuts while fighting crime in a city that adds 15,000 to 20,000 new residents every year. As a Captain, Davis oversaw the nation's first voluntary study of racial profiling conducted by a local police agency.

Davis has also earned international recognition as an expert in addressing gangs and gang violence, having served as a consultant for the U.S. State Department on five separate occasions. He traveled to El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela, Guatemala and Nicaragua to provide training to federal police agencies, politicians, government administrators, education leaders, heads of social service organizations and citizens regarding the design, implementation and evaluation of anti-gang programs. Davis has served in national and international leadership positions, in part as President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. In this capacity, Davis took a leadership role in advocating on Capitol Hill for the reallocation of the 700 MHz, broadband radio spectrum (the "D Block") to public safety – paving the way for an interoperable, nationwide broadband network for all public safety partners at the local, state and federal level that will significantly impact their ability to share both voice and strategic data information.

Davis believes strongly in being actively involved in the community, serving on the boards of the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Clara County Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the YWCA of Silicon Valley. Davis holds a B.A. degree with Honors in English from San Jose State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University. He holds a Master Instructor's Certificate from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and is a graduate of the FBI's National Executive Institute and the FBI's National Academy.