This article was originally published in The Examiner on Dec. 22, 2016.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Several Port Arthur first responders honored retired officer Thomas E. Baxter for nearly 40 years of service at Rose Place Senior Assisted Living on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
Chief of Police Patrick Melvin, who took office in October, also attended the ceremony. Rose Place Senior Assisted Living Community Relations manager Ranika Prince-Gilliam and resident Thomas Baxter, 97, hosted the banquet.
Baxter retired from the Port Arthur Police Department after 39 years of service in February 1982. He became a police officer after completing his service in the U.S. Army in 1942, starting with the Beaumont Police Department and transferring to Port Arthur.
He also served as Griffing Park Police Chief for three months in 1983 before Griffing Park consolidated with Port Arthur.
Baxter was the last Port Arthur Police officer to retire who earned the rank of inspector.
He exchanged stories with current Port Arthur Police officers about the city and the police department throughout the years.
Baxter said he believes that police officers should “talk to [people] like human being[s]” while on patrol.
“It’s all in the way you meet people,” he said, according to a news release. “You make an enemy for life, or you can approach them in such a manner that you make a friend for life.
“That’s what I always sought to do.”
Port Arthur Police officers presented Baxter with a photo album filled with over 40 photos of his career as a police officer.
Eleanor Skelton 