SLS 183ES-77 ORIGINAL
2018 Third Extraordinary Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 26
BY SENATOR MILKOVICH
COMMENDATIONS. Commends retired Chief Deputy Robert "Robbo" Davidson on his
dedicated career with the Sheriff's Department in DeSoto Parish.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Robert "Robbo" Davidson, retired Chief of Investigations and Chief Deputy
3 for the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office on his active support of law enforcement,
4 despite having retired from his law enforcement career in 2013 after thirty years of
5 dedicated service to DeSoto Parish.
6 WHEREAS, Robert Davidson, of Mansfield, Louisiana, received his associate degree
7 in criminal justice in 1968 from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, after earning his associate degree, Robert "Robbo" Davidson entered
10 the United States Air Force in 1968 and served honorably for two years; and
11 WHEREAS, Mr. Davidson worked for the Eleventh Judicial District Attorney's
12 Office as a special investigator, concentrating on screening cases for prosecution from 1975
13 until 1983; and
14 WHEREAS, in 1983, Robert Davidson joined the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office,
15 rising to the rank of lieutenant, chief of investigations, and chief deputy, achievements that
16 are indicative of his commitment to his law enforcement career and to protecting the people
17 of his jurisdiction; and
18 WHEREAS, well respected by his peers, Lt. Davidson was chosen in 2016 to serve
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SLS 183ES-77 ORIGINAL
1 on the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, a position of considerable esteem,
2 another sign of his distinguished career in law enforcement and the regard that others, both
3 within the law enforcement community and the public, in general, have for him; and
4 WHEREAS, shortly after his retirement from the sheriff's office, Lt. Davidson was
5 the recipient of the individual member of the month award of the DeSoto Parish Chamber
6 of Commerce for September 2013; and
7 WHEREAS, Lt. Davidson continues to serve his community in a manner consistent
8 with his dedicated service as a law enforcement officer; and
9 WHEREAS, as a chief investigator, he spent much of his law enforcement career
10 working to identify recovered bodies, locate missing persons, and solve unsolved homicides,
11 specifically what are known in investigative circles as "cold cases"; he labored tirelessly, and
12 often without acknowledgment, to identify deceased persons whose identity had been
13 unknown for decades to locate missing persons who had been lost for decades, and solve
14 homicides that had gone unsolved for decades; and
15 WHEREAS, as a sincere Christian, Chief Investigator Davidson was motivated by
16 his conviction that every human has worth, every crime victim is entitled to the dignity of
17 identification and recognition, and the family of every crime victim deserves resolution; and
18 WHEREAS, Antonio Barajas disappeared from DeSoto Parish in 1975, and, in 2006,
19 while working on a different case in Bossier Parish, Chief Investigator Davidson observed
20 that a forensic reconstruction of a skull found in Bossier Parish in 1980 appeared to match
21 the photographs of Antonio Barajas; and
22 WHEREAS, diligently adhering to the protocols and procedures of his profession,
23 Chief Investigator Davidson had the skull sent to the State Forensic Lab at LSU, obtained
24 DNA from Mr. Barajas' relatives, and ultimately played a role in helping establish, with the
25 assistance of a DNA match between the skull found in Bossier Parish and the DNA samples
26 of Mr. Barajas' relatives, that the skull found in Bossier Parish was that of Mr. Barajas; and
27 WHEREAS, Chief Investigator Davidson thus provided closure to Mr. Barajas'
28 family and the dignity of identification to Mr. Barajas by keeping the case open for over
29 thirty-one years and diligently and professionally following leads; and
30 WHEREAS, through similar investigative competence, professional excellence, and
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1 dauntless persistence, Chief Investigator Davidson determined in 2006 that a skull found in
2 DeSoto Parish in 1984, but misidentified by another forensic lab as being of another race,
3 was actually that of DeSoto Parish resident, Ricky Maxie, who had been missing for
4 twenty-two years; and
5 WHEREAS, the work and accomplishments of Chief Investigator Davidson in
6 pursuing the identity of one victim for over thirty-one years and the identity of another
7 victim for twenty-two years were recognized by author and eminent forensic pathologist,
8 Mary H. Manheim, in her seminal book, Bone Remains, Cold Case and Forensic
9 Anthropology; and
10 WHEREAS, Chief Investigator Davidson also played an instrumental role, along
11 with the Caddo District Attorney's Office and others, in obtaining confessions from
12 notorious professional assassin, Larry Thompson, for a murder in Toms River, New Jersey,
13 the murder of a woman on Line Avenue in Shreveport, Louisiana, a homicide in Carthage,
14 Texas, and still another in DeSoto Parish; and
15 WHEREAS, throughout his career, he has been driven by a passion for justice, a
16 knowledge that the Truth about violent crimes is essential to bring criminals to reckoning,
17 that provides dignity, meaning, and justice for victims and their families, and the dedication
18 to reveal the truth about long-dead victims and investigate otherwise long-forgotten crimes;
19 and
20 WHEREAS, ultimately, Chief Investigator Davidson has been motivated by his
21 Christian faith and his unshaken belief that, in God's eyes, every human life is sacred, every
22 victim is significant, every victim's family is hallowed, even if they are never in a position
23 to say, "thank you"; and
24 WHEREAS, as Chief Investigator Davidson has noted, "you have to keep cold cases
25 and the photographs, out of the filing cabinet, in your line of sight, and on top of your mind,
26 and reread them over and over and over" while acknowledging that "good homicide
27 investigation, takes teamwork"; and
28 WHEREAS, Robert "Robbo" Davidson, longtime officer with the DeSoto Parish
29 Sheriff's Office, has dedicated his adult life to protecting and serving his country through his
30 military service and his parish as a law enforcement officer, and his significant contribution
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1 to the safety and peace of the citizens of DeSoto Parish are to be heartily commended and
2 celebrated.
3 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
4 does hereby commend Robert "Robbo" Davidson, retired Chief of Investigations and Chief
5 Deputy for the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office on his active support of law enforcement,
6 despite having retired from his law enforcement career in 2013 after thirty years of dedicated
7 service to DeSoto Parish.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
9 retired Lt. Robert "Robbo" Davidson.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SR 26 Original 2018 Third Extraordinary Session Milkovich
Commends Robert "Robbo" Davidson on his active support of law enforcement, despite
having retired from his official law enforcement career in 2013 after 30 years of dedicated
service to DeSoto Parish.
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