As the sun rose over Austin's skyline, the city's newest police chief, Lisa Davis, and 54 cadets from the Austin Police Department's 152nd Cadet Class engaged in the Chief's Run, a rite of passage signaling impending graduation and commencement of their duty. The group took off from Congress Avenue Bridge and made their way to the Texas Peace Officers' Memorial at the State Capitol. The event, as reported by KXAN, marked a new era for the department under Chief Davis's leadership, who has just recently taken the helm.
Davis, transferring from Cincinnati, Ohio, still has yet to officially assume her position until she completes a mandated exam. Despite this, she wasted no time to actively partake in the traditions of her new department. The Chief's Run, which unfolded at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday represents the first of many challenges the new officers are to face in their careers. Davis, aiming to maintain departmental customs, shared her value for the tradition, emphasizing that it "sets the tone for what the expectation is for the city of Austin and the community as a whole," she elaborated in a statement obtained by KXAN.
The department, however, is navigating a staffing crisis with numerous open positions that Davis is inheriting from her predecessors. But the new class size, increasing from the previous 39 in April, offers a glimmer of hope for the department's rejuvenation. As they approached the Capitol, cadet Rosalee Callejas told KXAN, "it just kinda hit hard — everything that we're doing and who we're serving in our community — it just all hit at once."
The significance of the Chief's Run and its timing, merely days before graduation, was not lost on the cadets. Cadet Benjamin Thory, who admits to once possessing a critical view of the police, affirmed this sentiment, telling KXAN, "I want to go and make it better," speaking of his newfound duty within the Austin community. Meanwhile, Davis addressed her soon-to-be officers at the culmination of the run, as reported by CBS Austin, marking her prelude to the strategic leadership required to fill the department's ranks and nurture public trust.
