Robert Leon Davis was a street kid from a tough community. Raised on the brink of poverty, he and his siblings often went hungry, but with the help of a family in the neighborhood, he beat the odds and studied criminal law at LoyolaUniversity and joined the New Orleans police department in 1975. <p>He began his career with aspirations of being a great cop, but before long he was exposed to a darker side of law enforcement. While partnered with a veteran, Davis first witnessed an officer violating the very laws he had vowed touphold--and he shared in his crime. One compromise led to another, and Davis soon was caught and faced a substantial prison term. Cops in prison don't last long. He fled.