Former LV police chief dies

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

As interim police chief in the early 1950s, Ed Davis ran a department befitting the tiny, informal town Las Vegas was in those days.

If a guy got drunk, Davis would put him in the tank and release him the next day when he sobered up -- no time-consuming paperwork, no embarrassing court action and no burdensome fines.

"That's when it started getting political, and the city put pressure on the police to get that fine money," said Rennie Davis, Ed's son, who today is a Kingman, Ariz., antique shop owner.

"My dad loved the small town Las Vegas was and wanted none of that kind of politics in police work."

On April 25, 1950, according to UNLV archives, he quit after about one year. For the next 33 years, Davis drove big rigs, hauling freight for three Las Vegas companies.

Edward Alonzo Davis, said to be one of the best at solving stolen car cases in the history of Las Vegas law enforcement, died Thursday in Kingman, where he has lived since 1991. He was 79.

Services for the 56-year Las Vegas resident who died of heart failure at Kingman Regional Hospital will be at 3 p.m. today at Bunker Chapel.

Davis, commander of American Legion Post 8 from 1953-54, also was credited with affixing the first tamper-proof seal on the first meter installed on a Las Vegas taxicab.

"Ed was the kind of guy who talked straight from the shoulder -- a very honest man," said Joel Cossneer, a longtime friend and service officer for Post 8.

Cossneer, also a former post commander, early Monday placed Davis' name on the "In memorium" monument at Post 8, a rotating tribute honoring the most recently deceased Legionnaire who made significant contributions to the organization and community.

Born March 31, 1917, in Youngstown, Ohio, Davis developed an early interest in boxing, starting his ring career as an amateur at age 14.

He won the state Golden Gloves flyweight crown in 1931. While working part time in the local steel mill, Davis turned pro and fought 144 bouts.

Davis came to Las Vegas in 1935 and got a job working as a clerk for Ed Von Tobel's Lumber Yard on Main Street. At that time, word went out that Las Vegas needed police officers, and Davis -- despite a lack of law enforcement experience -- earned a spot on the force.

His career as a cop was interrupted by World War II, when Davis served in the Navy. Upon his discharge in 1945, he returned to Las Vegas to work for the old Las Vegas Police Department, which until the early 1970s was a separate entity from the Clark County Sheriff's Department.

Research by the UNLV Library's Special Collections Department found that Davis was promoted to lieutenant on Nov. 11, 1945.

During his years as a motorcycle officer, Davis earned the nickname "Eagle Eye" as he spotted and solved more stolen vehicle cases than any other officer of his time.

In the late 1940s, Davis set a record for solving a local car theft -- 45 minutes from the time the report was filed to an arrest and recovery of the vehicle, Rennie said.

Also, Davis did not let his his diminutive size prevent him from effectively doing his job.

"My father made a lot of arrests," said Rennie, who was born and raised in Las Vegas. "He may have been a small man (5 feet 7, 155 pounds), but he was tough -- a real scrapper."

After Davis left the force, he went to work first for Garrett's Freight Line, then Ringsby trucking and finally Delta trucking, before retiring in 1983. A year later, Davis' wife of 43 years, Charlotte (nee Morales) died.

After suffering a heart ailment in 1991, Davis moved in with his son in Kingman, where he enjoyed his final years working in the garden and watching pro golf on TV.

An avid golfer, Davis shot regularly in the high 70s before his health began to fail. He was a member of the old Winterwood Seniors Golf Club.

In addition to his son, Davis is survived by two daughters, Charlotte Gordon and Elizabeth Nevin, both of Eugene, Ore.; three brothers, George Davis of Newport, R.I., Rennie Davis of Youngstown, Ohio, and Bill Davis of Phoenix; a sister, Ruth Davis of Lancaster, Ohio; 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.