By Angela Morefield
Lossie M. Davis recently made local history by becoming the first African-American woman to be appointed to the Southport Police Department.
Davis is also the police department’s first woman to become assistant chief and was appointed by Chief Thomas Vaughn. “I am excited about being at Southport; we all have a great working relationship,” Davis said. “It’s my family bonded by blue. The only way to make change is to change as a whole.”
Davis was born in Ripley, Tenn. and was named after her grandmother “Big Lossie.” She moved to Indianapolis after she graduated from high school and has been in law enforcement and civil service for more than 29 years. After her son JaRon E. Collins was murdered while attending a basketball camp in Tennessee, Davis wrote God’s Purpose for My Pain, a book in memory of her son. Davis formed Broken but Blessed Ministries, a grief and healing ministry and book club for people suffering from grief and loss. “Grief is a lifelong challenge,” Davis said. “I kept asking God, ‘why me?’ Why did I deserve to lose my son after I had devoted my life to helping people? I realized it wasn’t my fault, but my healing was my responsibility. And that’s why I named the ministry Broken but Blessed, because you can be broken but blessed because you’re still here.”
Davis is the first lady of Ambassador Baptist Church in Indianapolis and is married to Pastor Darryl E. Davis Sr. She is the mother to two sons and stepmother to four children. Davis delivers motivational speaking at schools, churches and libraries, where she also has her books to sell, or give away to those who can’t afford one. “I want to be a blessing to these people because I’ve walked in their shoes,” Davis said. “People reach out to me from all over wanting help on how to overcome and learn to cope through healing and God.”
Before she was appointed to her new role of assistant police chief for Southport, Davis was a supervisor for the department’s chaplain, community outreach and support services divisions. She also worked for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and was a firefighter, EMT and public educator for the Wayne Township Fire Department prior to coming to the Southport Police Department. “Most of my family were in civil service or law enforcement so I grew up knowing that I had the pleasure of trying just about anything I wanted,” Davis said. “I’m thankful Chief Vaughn entrusted me with this job and thankful to God for giving it to me. We need to be united in change to make the community as a whole stronger. Share our differences, stop the hate, show love and change the world one step at a time.”
On Feb. 24, Davis is starting a 13-week Grief Share class at Ambassador Baptist Church. The class is free and open to adults and children every Monday starting at 6 p.m. for anyone suffering from loss. For more information, please contact facilitator Dian Thompson at thompson.dian@yahoo.com.
