Meet Steven
Steven is a lifelong resident of Ferndale in District 32. His parents, Jim and Annette Thomas, moved to Ferndale in 1961 where they raised Steven and his sisters, Michele and Kathy. Jim and Annette were always involved in the community and made sure to make it a family affair, teaching the Thomas children the importance of being involved in your community and participating in elections at an early age. One of Steven’s earliest memories of campaigning is knocking doors with his mother, a pastime he then went on to share with his own children.
Growing up Steven was very involved in local youth sports. He played football and lacrosse for the Andover Apaches, basketball and baseball for Linthicum Ferndale Youth Athletic Association, and baseball for North Glen Sports Club. Steven and his sisters attended the local Anne Arundel County Public Schools and graduated from Andover High School. Steven played football, basketball, and lacrosse in high school, going on to play lacrosse in college at Catonsville Community College and University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Through sports Steven learned firsthand the impact of working together as a team to accomplish a goal, how to be a good and effective leader, and the importance of dedication and hard work.
Steven graduated from UMBC with bachelor’s degrees in political science and sociology. He continued his education obtaining a master’s degree in legal & ethical studies from the University of Baltimore, while beginning his career in public safety as a Deputy Sheriff in the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office. At this time, Steven also served as the campaign coordinator for his future father-in-law, Ted Sophocleus’, County Executive Campaigns in 1990 & 1994. Steven also held this role for Ted’s House of Delegates Campaigns, where Ted represented District 32 for 22 years in the seat Steven is running to fill.
In 1995, Steven married his wife Elena Sophocleus-Thomas, purchasing a home in Ferndale where they would raise their children Despina and Christian, just a few blocks from his parents home and close to Elena’s parents in Linthicum. Steven also transferred to the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office and shortly after to the Anne Arundel County Police Department to continue his service in public safety where this summer he is retiring as a Lieutenant after 30 years.
When Steven joined the Police Department he was assigned to Northern District, where he patrolled not only the neighborhood he grew up in, but the neighborhood where he lived with his family, contributing to his passion for community based policing and public safety. Throughout his career Steven worked throughout Anne Arundel County while he rose through the ranks to Lieutenant, also remaining involved in his community in other ways, such as coaching his children’s lacrosse, basketball, and football teams.
As a shift commander, Steven was able to combine his education and experiences with his drive to serve his community to lead by example. In 2012 and 2013 Steven led an initiative to assist unhoused children and their families, bringing together police officers, community members, the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company and Abundant Life Church. This initiative which focused on providing food to families and Christmas gifts to the children once again showed the power that teamwork and community have in making change and supporting one another.
As a result of his community policing initiatives, in 2014 Steven was tasked with starting the Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Program & Peer Support Team, which he became the coordinator of in 2016. He led the CIT program to International recognition as the only program in the world to have a CIT Officer of the Year in 2018, Unit of the Year in 2020 and person with lived experience of the Year in 2023, and the program received the first Platinum Certification for a Regional Program in 2024. Steven is also an adult & youth mental health first aid instructor and in 2018 he was named a top 100 Mental Health First Aid Instructor. Most recently, Steven has also served as co-chair of Governor Moore’s Public Safety Transition Team, vice chair of the Multidisciplinary Education Subcommittee of the Maryland Judicial Behavioral Health Commission, and as staff at the Maryland Judicial College. Steven is an active member of the Board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - Maryland and faculty with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). As he prepares to enter into retirement, Steven is looking forward to expanding upon his passion for serving the community in a new way.
Inspired by his professional and personal work in his community and the people he has met along the way, Steven is focused on expanding mental health support, promoting community-based public safety, and improving community wellness and opportunity for district 32 residents, and across the state of Maryland.