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2022 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 331
Commending Thomas Hanula.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 7, 2022
Agreed to by the Senate, March 9, 2022

 

WHEREAS, Thomas Hanula, a detective with the Arlington County Police Department who solved numerous high profile cases to help keep the community safe, retired on February 2, 2022, after 34 years of service; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Hanula grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 1987; he subsequently attended the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy and began his career in law enforcement with the Arlington County Police Department in 1988; and

WHEREAS, over the course of his 34-year career, Thomas Hanula served as a detective, narco-financial investigator, and master police officer; he was a trusted source of institutional knowledge on the investigation and prosecution of complex state and federal cases, particularly those involving narcotics; and

WHEREAS, in the 1990s, Thomas Hanula was a member of Arlington’s Community Based Problem-Oriented Policing program, the first federally funded community policing program, which recorded more than 400 felony arrests during its first year of operation at the height of the crack epidemic; and

WHEREAS, as a member of the Arlington County Police Department’s Organized Crime Section and Drug Enforcement Unit, Thomas Hanula led investigations related to drug trafficking, money laundering, and other forms of organized crime; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Hanula served his colleagues as a certified expert witness for narcotics offenses in local, state, and federal courts, and he was a trusted mentor to younger officers, training at least seven other narcotics detectives; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Hanula was deputized in the Drug Enforcement Agency and served as a backup supervisor for Group 12 in the agency’s Washington Division; he produced numerous comprehensive reports for dissemination for prosecutorial teams and drafted many critical federal affidavits and search warrants; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Hanula earned the admiration of his fellow law-enforcement officers for his integrity, expertise, and professionalism; he went above and beyond the call of duty many times, including when he and his partner raced into a burning apartment building and rescued multiple occupants in 1995 and when he responded to the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, among many awards and accolades, Thomas Hanula received the Arlington County Police Department’s Principles of Government Service Award six times and the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce’s Meritorious Service Award twice; and

WHEREAS, outside of his career, Thomas Hanula was a devoted and supportive husband to his late wife, Sheila, and is a caring father to his daughter, Mary; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Thomas Hanula on the occasion of his retirement as a detective with the Arlington County Police Department; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Thomas Hanula as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his contributions to the law-enforcement profession and legacy of service to the Arlington County community.