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Plano's newest police chief hire makes history

Chief Ed Drain returns to the city where he started his law enforcement career in 1994. He is now the city's first black police chief.

PLANO, Texas — Plano's newest police chief performed one of his first duties as the top cop in the city: Introducing himself to the public through media interviews Friday. 

Chief Ed Drain returns to the city where he first started his law enforcement career. He was enlisted in the Army and served as a "bomb squad officer." 

Drain was hired in 1994 and had graduated through every rank in the Plano Police Department from officer to sergeant to lieutenant to captain to assistant chief and now, the police chief.

Chief Greg Rushin left the position after 18 years to take on a new role as deputy city manager for the city of Plano. Drain was Amarillo's chief at the time and never even applied for the job until his wife urged him to.

"Sometimes you have to decide. Maybe it's meant to be and I need to go back," Drain said. 

He now is the city's first black police chief. Pastor Isiah Joshua has to wait until Sunday to share the good news at Shiloh Baptist, a large predominantly black church.

"They'll come to their feet. There will be some praising and shouting over that because that's a big step," Joshua said. 

In his interview with WFAA, Chief Drain tried to downplay the historic nature of the hire.

"The city workforce is diverse. The city itself is very diverse. I don't think people are going to make that a big deal out of it here," Drain said. 

He says his policies are more about re-enforcing what Plano and former Chief Greg Rushin have done. 

"One is having high visibility patrols. You have to have a lot of marked units out there," he said. 

Drain is the top cop in a city mostly built out, but still reinventing itself with new multi-use areas.

"You gotta have officers out on foot, boots on the ground, walking those communities during peak times," he said.

Joshua is excited and says the chief will serve as a model for the young generation and an embodiment of what Martin Luther King dreamed.

"We've moved beyond looking at the color of our skin but more looking at the content of our character," said Joshua. 

Chief Drain is now fulfilling one of his own dreams by running the department that took a chance on him more than 26 years ago.

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