Six years ago Robert L. Davis was a fugitive, on the run from the law. Today he is a free man, happily married and ready to tell his remarkable story to readers everywhere, with his new biography, “Cop Out.” Davis grew up in the poverty and crime of the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, and learned young how to survive. He was 22 years old when two friends convinced him to join the police force. Police corruption in New Orleans in the late ’70s was widespread, and Davis was no exception. His criminal tendencies quickly resurfaced and he was arrested within his first year on the force. Young, scared and facing 30 years behind bars, Davis decided to take his chances and flee. In the woods of Tennessee Davis experienced a miracle, an event he believes was a personal divine message. In 2001, Davis turned himself in to the authorities. He now speaks with young police recruits in Louisiana about the perils of corruption, and has dedicated his life to revealing rogue officers.

Cop Out: How a Former Police Officer became a Fugitive for over 20 years - Living in the Woods and Other Locations While Evading Law Enforcement and Eventually Surrendered to God and Authorities

“Cop Out” is the story of Robert L. Davis.  Abandoned by his father, Robert lived with his maternal grandmother and eight siblings in Hollygrove, a ghetto area of New Orleans. By the time of his high school graduation Robert had become proficient in stealing and stripping cars and was becoming entrenched in a life of crime. Two young neighbors, New Orleans police officers, influenced Robert to become a recruit for the police academy.

Corruption within the police department and the example of “bad” cops on the force gave Robert a false sense of his core values and an incident arose that caused him to be examined by the department of internal affairs. He was later arrested. While out on bail, unable to face the possibility of a 30-year sentence to Angola Prison, Robert fled.

His story of evading authorities, as a fugitive, is one of survival.  He lived for months at a time in wooded areas and in National Forests. This first-person, fast-paced narrative takes Robert from New Orleans to Canada, from coast to coast.

His reflections and stories tell of significant influences of some of the people he met in bus stations, railroad yards, homeless shelters, church missions, and day job centers. 

I appreciated Robert’s open, frank, approach in relating his feelings. He has made himself vulnerable. His story is one that will create questions and cause you to seek answers.  His journals are filled with a pattern of family, friends, acquaintances, and girlfriends challenging his atheism as he challenged their Christian message.  The book is thought provoking for Christian and non-Christian alike.

The central truth of the book is this:  the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the most despicable offender can never exhaust the depths of His love.  As Robert experienced the miracle of God’s redemptive love, after over twenty years of flight, he surrendered, first to God and then to the authorities.

This is a remarkable story of transformation.  An angry atheistic criminal was recreated to become a man with “a compassion for the poor, love to those in need, patience to the foolish, and laughter with the innocent.”

“Cop Out” is a must read book for anyone considering or involved in the area of criminal justice, faith based ministries, parole officers, gang members, and juvenile offenders.  Challenging, life-changing, inspirational.