Goforth Road online petition to be presented to commissioners

A former police officer has been on a mission for the last month. He has been collecting signatures to rename part of West Road in northwest Harris County to Goforth Road. Andrew Callis says he has paid several hundred dollars out of his own pocket to create examples of what the sign would look like. He is determined to see Goforth's name remembered, and he's not alone.

The petition shows almost 18,000 other people want to see Goforth's name on a street sign as well.

“He went out there every day and put his life on the line, knowing that one day, he might not be able to come back to his wife and kids, so if he can do that, why can't I spend my off time doing this?,” asked Callis, the man responsible for the petition. He believes Goforth's name should be immortalized on a road sign, to honor both Goforth and past fallen officers.

“The blue line that you see on the line stands for all law enforcement," said Callis. "It doesn't just stand for Deputy Goforth. His name is the exclamation point on a lot of senseless murders in this county, in this country, in the state, everywhere.”

Callis has been working on a petition for a month, urging the city to rename a section of West Road from Beltway 8 to Barker Cypress to Goforth road.

The petition now has 17,898 signatures along with online comments from supporters.

“There's a couple women that state that their husbands were officers killed in the line of duty, and it's something that they want to see done because it's for all law enforcement,” said Callis. He is a former police officer who met Goforth once in his past. He was moved to tears talking about the petition and said this thin blue line will serve as a daily reminder of the risk officers take to serve and protect.

“That stands for every single officer that puts themselves on the line that goes out there to let them know, ‘Hey, we see you and we have your back.’ It's not just. ‘Oh, we're just going to shuffle you off and forget about you.’ No, never, never. I'm never going to forget this man ever,” said Callis. He plans on being at the Harris County Commissioner’s Court meeting on Tuesday morning to present his petition.