The approaching school year will come with a change locally, as the Houston School District will have a new School Resource Officer: Cathryn Davis.
Davis, 32, is a native of the St. Louis area who now lives in Houston with her two children: Gwendolyn (5) and Alana (3). After graduating from high school in Wright City, she went on to earn an associate’s degree at St. Charles Community College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Lindenwood University in St. Charles in December of 2013.
From there, Davis went through the Missouri State Highway Patrol Training Academy before beginning a stint of almost 10 years as a state trooper, first in northern Howell County and Shannon County for about four years and then in Texas County for another five.
“That has been an amazing adventure,” Davis said.
Davis began duties with the Houston Police Department at the beginning of August.
“The opportunity came up, and with me being a single mom with two kids, it was a perfect fit,” she said. “I always loved the school functions I was able to have with the patrol, and I knew if the position came open again, that’s what I wanted to do.”
Davis wants to help kids to have a better understanding of law enforcement officers.
“Sometimes the news isn’t so good, like when there’s an officer-involved shooting,” she said. “I’ve been asked by kids, ‘how many people have you shot?’
“That hurts my heart. I want to be the bridge for these kids to know that there are good cops out there and they’re here to protect us, and that if they have questions, they can always ask.”
Davis would even like to have the chance to educate kids about cops inside their classrooms.
“I’d like to teach them like, ‘hey, this is what we do and we’re OK to be around,” she said, “and maybe answering some questions they don’t feel comfortable asking because they don’t want to come to my office. So, I would be bringing myself to them and saying, ‘ask, because there is no silly question.’”
Entering the law enforcement field was natural for Davis.
“I wanted to help people,” she said, “and that’s why I got into it. It wasn’t the driving fast or anything like that, it was that I honestly wanted to help people. I still want to do that, and now it will be with kids.
“Being there for the kids is what this is all about.”
Wonderful.