{"id":378289,"date":"2026-07-19T00:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378289\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T00:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:16:23","slug":"7-foot-3-whitehaven-grad-becomes-texas-police-officer-with-shaqs-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378289\/","title":{"rendered":"7-foot-3 Whitehaven grad becomes Texas police officer with Shaq\u2019s help"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 A former Whitehaven High School student is proving that following your dreams can take you far \u2014 even if that dream isn’t what everyone expects.<\/p>\n

Jordan Wilmore, who stands 7 feet 3 inches tall, could have pursued a career in basketball, but he always wanted to become a police officer.<\/p>\n

Last year, Wilmore became the tallest police recruit in the country when he began training with the Kemah Police Department in Texas. However, his journey hit a setback when he missed passing his police exam by just one point.<\/p>\n

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Then, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal heard his story and stepped in to encourage him.<\/p>\n

\"<em>Whitehaven<\/a><\/p>\n

Whitehaven graduate becomes police officer with Shaq’s help (CBS News)<\/p>\n

With Shaq’s support, Wilmore kept working toward his goal and passed the exam on his second attempt.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always liked to help other people. That’s just who I am. I would do anything to help out whoever I can. There is nothing else I really wanted to do,” Wilmore said.<\/p>\n

Wilmore’s height has presented some unique challenges, including fitting into a standard patrol car. Shaq even promised to help him get a custom squad vehicle if he passed the exam.<\/p>\n

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His new police chief said Wilmore’s commitment to serving others is what stood out most.<\/p>\n

“He truly wants to make a difference. I’m proud that he chose the thin blue line,” said Chief Raymond Garivey with the Kemah Police Department.<\/p>\n

Wilmore took the police oath last week and is now officially the newest officer serving with the Kemah Police Department.<\/p>\n

Wilmore shared more of his story with CBS’s On the Road with Steve Hartman.<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 A former Whitehaven High School student is proving that following your dreams can take you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[133770,16000,85834,27,29,28,133771],"class_list":["post-378289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-jordan-wilmore","tag-kemah-police-department","tag-shaquille-oneal","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-whitehaven-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}