Edward Alfred Thomas (September 23, 1919 – August 10, 2015) was one of the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s to work as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

for the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

. He was born on September 23, 1919, in Keatchi, Louisiana. He attended

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

. Thomas was drafted and served in the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

and the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. He joined the Houston Police Department in 1948. Thomas served for 63 years, the longest period of service of any municipal employee. In July 2015 Houston Police Headquarters was renamed the Edward A. Thomas Building.

External links

* Shelia Jackson Lee
"TRIBUTE TO EDWARD ALFRED THOMAS, LONGEST SERVING AND GREATEST PATROL OFFICER IN THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT".

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...

Vol. 161, No. 121

References

Houston Police Department officers African-American police officers American police officers United States Army soldiers African Americans in World War II Military personnel from Louisiana United States Army personnel of World War II People from DeSoto Parish, Louisiana People from Houston Southern University alumni 1919 births 2015 deaths 21st-century African-American people African-American United States Army personnel {{Houston-stub