council and our chief charles mccolan for naming our beacon of law enforcement building after edward alfred thomas, the longest serving and greatest patrol officer in the history of the houston police department so noted by fellow officers. edward alfred thomas was born in shreveport, louisiana, in 1920. he played football for southern university and as well he was drafted in world war ii where he saw action with the united states army at normandy, in northern africa and during the battle of the bulge. after the war with his honorable discharge edward thomas became one of the first african-american police officers in the city of houston. when he started he could not vote with our poll tax, where he worked for 63 years until his retirement on july 23 2011. he worked for more than six decades, way before the civil rights movement and his work was not without challenges. because of his work and because of his race, officer thomas was not allowed to drive a squad car or arrest white suspects without obtaining permission from his supervisor. at one point in his career he was disciplined for speaking to