Sheriff Gahler has announced the appointment of William Davis to the rank of Colonel and position of Chief Deputy. This appointment comes after the retirement of Colonel Steven Bodway in early January of this year. This appointment takes effect on Saturday, February 9, 2019.
As Chief Deputy, Colonel Davis will oversee the four bureaus of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office: Services and Support, Investigative Services, Police Operations, and Correctional Services.
Prior to this appointment, Davis has served the Office since 2014, most recently at the rank of Major and Chief of the Police Operations Bureau. He has dedicated the last 31 years of his life to a career in law enforcement and public safety. Beginning his career in 1988, with the Ocean City Police Department, Davis continued his path and joined the Baltimore Police Department where he continued to advance until he retired in 2014, having achieved the rank of Major. He holds a Master’s Degree in Management from The Johns Hopkins University and is a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police. For 11 years, Davis was an adjunct faculty member for The Johns Hopkins University in the School of Education’s Public Safety Leadership Program, helping shape the law enforcement leaders of tomorrow. On his appointment, Davis offered, “I am truly honored to be offered and accept the opportunity to serve Harford County in the role of Chief Deputy. I am fortunate to be working with deputies who demonstrate, on a daily basis, that they are the most dedicated and professional members of public safety in the Country. Additionally, it is truly humbling to serve the Harford County community who shows so much support and respect for the job we do each day. I look forward to building on the successes of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the County in my new role and I am grateful for Sheriff Gahler’s confidence in me.”
Additional promotions to the rank of Major were bestowed upon Daniel Galbraith and Donald Gividen, Jr. Major Galbraith was promoted in December 2018 and serves as the Chief of the Services and Support Bureau. After his service in the United States Army concluded, he graduated from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy Entrance Level Class 8 and began his law enforcement service at the Havre de Grace Police Department. In 1989, he joined the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, promoting to his most recent rank of Captain in 2010. During his tenure, he has served in the Harford County Task Force, Internal Affairs, Patrol Operations, and as a member of both the Special Response and Community Action Response Teams. As an administrator, he was instrumental in the building of the Southern Precinct and current Headquarters’ renovations.
Gividen, most recently Captain of the Special Operations Division, began his service to the community as a dispatcher in Harford County before graduating from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy Entrance Level Class 14, as a deputy in 1997. Gividen rose through the ranks promoting to the rank of Captain in 2014. He has served the agency and this community in a variety of roles including a K9 officer, Traffic Unit supervisor, Drill Instructor, and Commander in Patrol Operations. Gividen also serves as the Line of Duty Team Commander, providing the critical link between the agency and families of our Fallen Heroes. Each year, he ensures that no memory is lost and each life continues to be honored. In his new role as Major, Gividen will act as the Chief of the Police Operations Bureau, effective February 9, 2019. Both Majors are graduates of the FBI National Academy.
Of these promotions, Sheriff Gahler remarked, “These decisions were made after careful consideration, internal discussion, and meetings with our unions. I am fortunate to be surrounded with many qualified commanders, each with unique and special skills, qualities, and management abilities that would be a good fit and help continue to move this agency forward. These appointments were made in the best interest of leadership in the agency, service to the citizens, and the safety of our Harford County communities. Please join me in congratulating these deputies and wishing them well in their new roles.”