North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis set to retire

Roulston named interim

North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis
North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis

North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis announced on Monday that he will retire, effective March 1, after 34 years with the department.

His decision will leave North Little Rock with an interim police chief for the rest of 2020, an election year that will see the city choose a new mayor.

According to a department news release, Davis informed his officers of his retirement in a statement and thanked them, citing their "hand in my success as chief."

"I believe for me it's time to turn the page, start the next chapter," Davis said in the statement. He did not elaborate on the reasons why he is retiring.

In the same news release, the department announced that North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith has selected Assistant Chief Tracy Roulston to serve as interim chief beginning next month.

Davis, 59, was hired in 1986 and has served as North Little Rock's police chief since 2013. He replaced Danny Bradley, who moved to city hall in order to become the chief of staff to Smith.

Complicating the search for a permanent chief of police is Smith's own impending retirement -- his term wraps up at the end of this year. In September, Smith announced that he would not seek a third term as mayor. North Little Rock voters will cast their ballots for Smith's replacement during the November general election.

In an interview on Monday, Smith acknowledged that his retirement will delay the selection of a permanent chief. He intends to leave Roulston as interim chief for the remainder of the year, Smith said, leaving the next mayor with the opportunity to make a final appointment.

"The police chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor, so it would be pretty hard for me to appoint someone to a permanent position when I could only guarantee them a 10-month job," Smith said.

Smith said he had hoped "for my own selfish reasons" that Davis would retire along with him at the end of December, but he learned on Friday that Davis would leave before the year is over for personal reasons. "I do wish him well. He's a very good friend," Smith said.

The mayor declined to comment on the reasons behind Davis's retirement, deferring the question to the police chief.

Davis and Roulston were unavailable for interviews on Monday afternoon, according to a police spokesman. Officials from the North Little Rock Police Department and City Hall will host a retirement ceremony for Davis on Feb. 27 at the Patrick Henry Hays Center, according to the news release.

Roulston, 58, is a North Little Rock native who has worked for the department since 1988. He was promoted from captain to assistant chief in April.

"Most crimes are solved by communication, not forensic evidence," he told the Democrat-Gazette this spring. "It's people. People telling us information and our ability to communicate with others. That's how we solve most crimes."

Smith, who has known and worked with Roulston for approximately 30 years, said he has watched Roulston grow as a law enforcement officer.

"When you're mayor, you've got to have confidence in whoever your police chief is, and I've got all the confidence in the world in Tracy Roulston, no doubt," Smith said.

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staton breidenthal

Mike Davis

Metro on 02/04/2020

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