Stephen Davis, main NYPD spokesman, to retire in March
Stephen Davis, who for the past four years has been the NYPD’s main spokesman during a time of major crime declines, terror attacks and department changes, will retire at the end of March.
Davis, 66, a resident of Manhattan, said he plans to do consulting in what he called an “ideal job” for an international company. He didn’t reveal the name of his next employer Thursday during a meeting with reporters.
Davis said he would ultimately return to his private investigative consulting firm. Davis had to place the firm in a blind trust when he came back as NYPD spokesman under former NYPD Commissioner William Bratton.
“This was an amazing four years, 2014 to 2018,” Davis said, likening the period to the years when the New York Yankees were on a roll from 1996 to 2000.
“You can’t get a better four years than that,” said Davis, who also has a second home on Long Island.
Davis said his successor has not been announced. The media office is also losing its commanding officer, Chief Timothy Trainor, this month as well, he said.
From the time he was first sworn in as a rookie cop in 1969 among a class of 32 recruits, Davis, the son of a police officer, has lived and breathed the NYPD. He rose through the ranks and, as a sergeant in various precincts, worked with men who became major chiefs in the department, including Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce and Chief of Housing James Secreto.
Davis retired as a cop in 1991 after attaining the rank of captain. After establishing his consulting firm, Davis was asked by Bratton to come back as deputy commissioner of public information in 2014. When Bratton left in September 2016, some expected Davis would also leave, but he stayed on as chief spokesman for Bratton’s successor, James O’Neill.
“There is never a good time, but there is a right time,” Davis said about his decision to retire, quoting Bratton.
Davis said that during the four years he has held the job he felt it was his duty to explain things, particularly when things went wrong for the department, including corruption cases.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
