Knoxville PD Reservist Retires After 30 Years
Knoxville TN Sept 15 208 Shelden Davids is retiring after 30 years with the Knoxville Police Department — all as a volunteer.
Davids’ regular job is teaching, but when he learned that a colleague was also serving as a reserve police officer he decided to become one himself.
He spent a year as a trainee, and then put on regular duty during emergencies and special events; Davids tells KNIA/KRLS News the busiest time of the year for the department — the week of Nationals — was actually one of his favorite parts of the job.
“Nationals Week was one very wild time; and we used to say that as a police officer you would see about everything you could possibly see in that one week’s worth of time,” said Davis.
“It was actually quite a blast.
During that period of time, it was often that I would work 12 to 20 hours, go home and sleep for a while, come back and work 12 to 20 hours. It was just that much fun.”
Davids says he got a lot more respect as a police officer than most reservists; while other departments only use them on an as-needed basis, and they only have police authority when officially on duty, the Knoxville department would use him regularly — and fellow officers would treat him as an equal.
KNIA/KRLS
