Retiring Glastonbury officer had lead role in modernizing investigations
May 20—GLASTONBURY — Lt. Corey Davis, who is to retire today from the local Police Department after more than 20 years on the job, was an early supervisor of the Manchester-based Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations, which supports police departments in the increasingly technological business of investigating crime.
The center originated with a computer forensic laboratory operated by Glastonbury police Sgt. Rich McKeon, which became popular among area police agencies as a place to have computer analyses done, Davis explained in a recent interview.
CAREER
Responsibilities have included being an undercover narcotics officer, supervising the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations, serving as the department's news media spokesman, and being a "supervisor of supervisors" as a lieutenant with responsibility for a wide swath of the department's work.
McKeon got the idea of expanding the lab into a regional center, which was done, Davis continued. But McKeon retired soon afterward.
Davis, then Glastonbury's sergeant in charge of criminal investigations, was named supervisor of the center in 2015. He took charge of the nuts and bolts of institutionalizing the center, negotiating a memorandum of understanding among the eight local police department involved, which grew to 10 under his leadership, and formalizing its funding sources.
The computers and cellphones the lab analyzes play a part in numerous types of modern criminal investigations. They are central to investigations of sexual predators who connect with child victims online and of child pornography, which is now referred to as "child sexual abuse material" to emphasize the crimes involved in making it.
"I took a lot of pride in being able to do that," Davis said of such investigations.
As to the more general role of digital evidence, Capt. Mark Catania, who has supervised Davis throughout his career, says, "Cases that would have gone cold 20 years ago will never go cold now."
Davis headed the center until 2019, when he handed over the reins after a period of doing double duty with other responsibilities.
While the center is an example of the increasingly technical and scientific character of modern police work, interacting with people is still a central part of the job.
Davis said he emphasizes to new officers that "when we go to a call, we are encountering or engaging with people who are in the worst day of their life," possibly due to being a crime victim or having lost a loved one. An officer who goes to police calls all the time may not remember that interaction, but the person in crisis "will remember you," Davis says.
His involvement with police work goes back to when he was 13 or 14. Although he grew up in East Windsor, he joined a Vernon group that he thought at first was ambulance Explorers. It turned out to be Police Explorers, and Davis says he "thought it was pretty cool."
The Explorers would help police in incidents such as lockouts and medical calls, he recalls, and he got early experience in leadership as captain of the group.
He went to Westfield State College in Massachusetts but left with a year to go when he joined the Police Department in 2001.
Like all police officers, Davis started his career in patrol. He has one obvious advantage for such work and other police functions that involve interacting with sometimes-recalcitrant members of the public — he is a muscular 6-foot-8.
He completed his bachelor's degree while working and, more recently, got a master's degree in public administration from the University of New Haven.
He says he loves police work but adds that part of what attracted him to the field was the ability to retire after 20 years and start another career. He says he has accepted a job in the private sector but isn't yet ready to announce what it is.
For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.
