Edward M. Davis

Who was Edward M. Davis?

Edward Michael Davis was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969–1978, and later a California State Senator from 1980–1992 and an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 1986. Davis' name was familiar to a generation of Americans since it appeared on its own card for "technical advice" in the closing credits of the popular television programs Dragnet and Adam-12.

Born in Los Angeles, California to James Leonard Davis and Lillian Fox Davis, Davis graduated from John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles. He joined the LAPD and married Virginia Osborne in 1940. During World War II he took a leave of absence from the police department in order to serve in the United States Navy.

When he became Chief of Police, Davis inherited a police department that was essentially the creation of Chief William H. Parker and which held strong institutional values and views within its ranks. The result was a department that saw itself as a bastion for peace and the traditional American values of old Los Angeles.