Rob 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 well as issues ranging from use of force policy to active shooter planning.
Since joining Jensen Hughes, Rob has led the firm’s Law Enforcement Consulting services. This responsibility has ranged from serving as a strategic advisor on a high-level engagement Jensen Hughes conducted in partnership with DHS’s Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute to evaluate integrity and counter-corruption programs within U.S. Customs and Border Protection to advancing the firm’s on-the-ground support to working with collaborative reform for a growing list of cities across the United States.
Innovation has been the cornerstone of his career in policing and public safety. A 30-year veteran of the San Jose, California Police Department, Rob 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.
Rob 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 Rob’s 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. Rob oversaw the nation’s first voluntary study of racial profiling conducted by a local police agency.
Rob 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 occasions. He traveled throughout Central and South America to train 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. Rob has served in national and international leadership positions, in part as President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Rob strongly believes in being actively involved in the community and has served on the boards of the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA of Silicon Valley, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Santa Clara County. He currently serves on the board of the Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Rob 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.