On July 1, 1955, Thomas B. Jacocks began his career with the Montgomery County police department as a patrol officer. Sixty years later, the deputy commander for the Bethesda police station has served longer at a single agency than any law enforcement officer in the state.
“Lt. Tom Jacocks celebrates 60 years on the job today,” police Chief Tom Manger said in a press release. “He still wears the uniform proudly.”
Jacocks, 82, rose from patrol officer through various ranks of detective to lieutenant. A 1951 graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, he enlisted in the Army in 1952 during the Korean War and was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
When he joined the Montgomery County police department, he was one of 180 officers serving a population of 200,000, police officials said. Today, the force consists of more than 1,200 officers who serve more than 1 million residents.
“It is my honor to have Lt. Jacocks as a member of my command staff,” said Capt. Dave Falcinelli, commander of the Bethesda station that oversees the department’s second district. “His dedication to the job today is as strong as it was when he joined the department in 1955. Sixty years in any profession, let alone law enforcement, is something rarely achieved.”
Jacocks also has been a 30-year supporter of the Maryland Special Olympics program, and has attended every department torch run that benefits the program since 1985. In addition to his work in the Bethesda station, he has worked in the Juvenile Aid Bureau, the Warrant and Fugitive Bureau, the Wheaton-Glenmont station, the Silver Spring station and as the court liaison officer.
A celebration, low-key as police say is Jacocks’ style, will be held July 15 at the Bethesda station.
