Cooperative Living March 2023 - 8

SPOT LIGHT
●●●● the Blue
by Laura Emery S taff Writer
Trooper makes history as first Black female
appointed Area 44 commander
A
s a teen, it wasn't unusual
for Dylan Davenport to awake
in the middle of the night to
the sound of fire engine sirens blaring
as they departed from the fire station
directly across the street from her
family's apartment.
That was just a normal part of
growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y.
When a young Davenport peeked
through the blinds at first responders
coming and going at all hours, she had
no way of knowing that one day she
would join the ranks of dedicated
first responders in a state nearly 300
miles away.
Born in Jamaica, where her father
worked for the Jamaica Constabulary
Force, Davenport moved at a very young
age with her family to New York, where
her mother worked for the financial
her mother worked for the financial
firm De
her
ke
the
rmDeanWitter, which later became
Morgan Stanley.
" I guess you could say that I had
a standard 80s childhood, " she says,
laughing. " At the time, I could never
have imagined I'd be where I am now. "
MAKING HISTOR
Davenport is now a 1st Sgt. with
the Virginia State Police and is the
first Black female to be appointed area
commander ofthe VSP's Area 44 office
servingCaroline and KingGeorge
counties.
But she says the road to this position
wasn't always clear.
" I was pregnant, so my husband and
I started looking at ways we could better
afford to live. The cost ofliving in New
York City was very high, so we decided
to move to rural Virginia, " she says.
For the Jamaican who grew up in
6 ● Cooperative Living ●
March 2023
Brooklyn,
Virginia offers a
totally different
perspective on
life. " It's quieter,
more peaceful
and the people are friendly, " she explains.
When she first moved to the
commonwealth 22 years ago, Davenport
worked as an unarmed security guard
but she knew she wanted to grow in her
career and, possibly, take a different
direction.
The opportunity for change came
in 2002 when she discovered an
employment ad for a commercial vehicle
enforcement officer position with the
Virginia State Police, which has more
than 3,000 employees across the state.
" I decided to go for it, " she says.
" While I worked in that position, I met
a lot of troopers. There was this one
trooper that took the time to really share
the positive side ofhis job with me.
t ooper that took the time to really share
sitive
He encouraged me to become a trooper
aged
er
to
ort,
Syg
oope
myself, and that's when I started to
seriously consider it. "
's when I started to
According to Davenport, Sygna
Blydenburgh, a fellow commercial
vehicle enforcement officer, also sawsaw
great potential in her. " Sygna told me
that she was the first Black woman to
ack
nks
man to
retire from the sworn ranks ofthe
Virginia State Police [in 2006], and
retire from the sworn ranks ofthe
the
so it feels really good now knowing that
she was encouraging me and motivating
me at that time, " Davenport says.
nowin th
or says
PAYING HER DUES
In 2004, Davenport entered the
Virginia State Police Academy and
en er
ademy
fter
uded
the
and
training that included 1,300 classroom
became a trooper after 28 weeks of
A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY
When it comes to being a trailblazer
for other Black women, she explains:
" Being the first Black female to do
something brings with it some pressure.
If, as the first Black female to do
something, I have a misstep, I don't want
the next Black female that comes along
co-opliving.com
1st Sgt. Dylan
Davenport,
●appahannock
Electric Cooperative
●●●●●●●
and field instruction
hours in more than
100 different
subjects.
But while there,
she says she
remembers looking around and thinking,
" Where are the other Black females? "
" You stand out because you don't look
like everyone else, " she explains. " When
I went to the Academy in 2004, that class
graduated eight women. It was helpful
that there were other females there, but
I was the only minority female. "
In February of 2005, Davenport
started work as a trooper serving in VSP
Area 1, which included Hanover and
Henrico. " As a road trooper, we covered
the interstate counties and did standard
highway safety stuff, including pursuits,
traffic stops, fight calls, motor vehicle
crash investigations, fatal crash
investigations, and special assignments
like escorts and special event details, "
she explains.
In June of 2015, she was promoted
to sergeant. " I ended up working for
Sygna Blydenburgh's husband at the
Area 44 office, and I worked for him for
a few years until he promoted away to
lieutenant. So, coming back here as a first
sergeant - and as the first Black female to
oversee the office - it brought me a little
bit of a sense of coming home, " she says.
PHOTOS COURTESY DYLAN DAVENPORT
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living March 2023

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