He became the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department a year later, selected by then-Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to replace predecessor Anthony Batts.

He served as the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department until his departure in January 2018 after crime rates increased significantly.

[7] On July 8 that year, then-Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake replaced Batts with Davis as the interim commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department.

In April, Davis announced a ban on virtual, recorded meetings in September that year in all districts of Fairfax County, Virginia.

This prompted Bob Sledzaus, chairman of the Reston Community Advisory Committee, to resign, stating "this, however, remains simply a premise — unsubstantiated, despite repeated requests for substantiation".

[28] In October, the Fairfax County NAACP condemned Davis for ignoring increasing gun-related deaths and racial inequality.

[29] In March 2024, Davis accused Herndon, Virginia, police chief Maggie DeBoard of racism after confronting her over an issue involving the city's police graduation certificates being signed in non-English, which resulted in DeBoard requesting a reissue of the certificates to be signed in English instead.