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A 7-foot-3 former basketball player is set to become the tallest police officer in Texas after overcoming the final obstacle in his months-long journey to join the Kemah Police Department.
Jordan "Tiny" Wilmore successfully passed the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) licensing exam after initially failing on his first attempt, as reported by the Galveston County Daily News.
He is set to be sworn in on Tuesday, July 7.
"I dont know how to feel," Wilmore told the outlet after learning he passed.
"I want to cry.
I want to scream.
I am so happy." Wilmore's journey to becoming a police officer has been quite unusual.
Before entering law enforcement, he played professional basketball after a college career that included stints at Northwestern State University and Texas A&M-Commerce, as reported by CBS News.
He shared with the outlet that he ultimately decided to leave basketball behind to pursue a career in law enforcement.
The Kemah Police Department introduced its newest recruit in August 2025.
The 7-foot-3 resident of Kemah had expressed interest in joining the department and would attend the police academy, sponsored by Weeks Marine.
After completing the academy, Wilmore initially failed the state licensing exam by one point in 2025.
Rather than give up, he returned to training and began studying months in advance for another attempt.
"This time I took it more serious and started studying months in advance," Wilmore told the Daily News.
His journey later drew support from Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA legend and longtime supporter of law enforcement.
In December, Kemah police said O'Neal visited the department to encourage Wilmore and sponsor him through another academy after his initial setback.
"Jordan wants to continue his dream of becoming a police officer, so he reenrolled in another academy," the department wrote at the time.
"Shaq will be sponsoring Jordan through this next academy." Wilmore's size may make him hard to miss, but his persistence earned the confidence of the Kemah Police Department, according to Chief Raymond Garivey.
"We are so excited for him," Garivey said in a Facebook post.
"We will be swearing him in on Tuesday the 7th at 2 p.m.
in Kemah Council Chambers.
Congratulations Jordan!" Wilmore will join fellow law enforcement officers George Bell, a 7-foot-8 former Harlem Globetrotter who served as a deputy sheriff in Norfolk, Virginia, and O'Neal, a 7-foot-1 reserve police officer with experience in multiple departments across the country.
Together, they will be among the tallest individuals in the law enforcement profession in the United States.
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