A packed city council chamber saw the two newest members of the Brownwood Police Department take their oaths during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Officers Eric Joshua and Khalid Abuobeid took their oaths publicly and their BPD badges were pinned on their uniforms during the meeting. For one it was a homecoming to be back in Brownwood, for the other, it is his first small town experience.
Eric Joshua is a 1995 graduate of Brownwood High School and returns to the area after living in Forney, Texas for 5 years. He was employed with U.S. Security Associates as a hospital security guard. His position with BPD is his first law enforcement position with a police department after having completed the Cedar Valley Academy in Lancaster, Texas. Joshua and his wife Melanie have a 3-year-old son Xavier.
Khalid Abuobeid comes to BPD as his first law enforcement experience after working in Houston as a firefighter for 12 years. He was born in Tucson; however has spent most of his life living abroad. Brownwood is his first small town experience. When asked what he expects from small town life, Abuobeid stated that he didn’t know what to expect, but hopes to experience the welcoming friendliness of a small town and closer relationships with citizens that big city life doesn’t always afford. Abuobeid has lived and studied in many countries, including his parents’ homeland of Jordan where he attended a French Catholic missionary high school, Russia where he obtained a bachelors degree, and the Middle and Far East. Abuobeid is trilingual, speaking fluent English, Russian and Arabic.
Mayor Stephen Haynes thanked the two officers for committing their lives to protecting the citizens of Brownwood and wished them safety in their new careers with the Brownwood Police Department.
Brownwood Chief of Police Mike Corley stated that the hiring of these two officers brings the department to full force.
Pictured above the officers take their oaths. Below are photos as the officers’ badges are ceremonially pinned onto their uniforms.
Chief Corley pins Khalid Abuobeid’s badge onto his uniform.
Eric Joshua’s wife Melanie pins his badge.
