Windsor Police have officially welcomed five new members to the service.
The new police officers were honoured at the Windsor Police Service Badge Presentation Ceremony Thursday night.
The event saw the new members receive their service badge and plenty of praise from their superiors.
Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick says out of hundreds of applicants who applied to the Windsor Police Service, these five were the best.
He says he has some advice for the young recruits.
"Our job becomes routine to us, but it never becomes routine to a community member, " says Frederick. "It may be the only time in their lives they speak with a police officer. First impressions are everything. Be professional at all times because that person is going to walk away from that interaction and tell everyone for the rest of their life about that interaction."
He says it takes hard work and commitment to become a police officer.
"Including all of the interviews, the physical fitness test, the medicals and all the background checks, it takes about nine months for them to even become cadets," says Frederick. "The group then receives more training at the Ontario Police College. This group here has been with us close to a year and a half already."
He says he intends on keeping the five officers together.
"I get inspired by them," says Frederick. "When they talk about comradery and the bond that they have forged in just a years time that is very true. When you go through that much training and hardship together you do grow very close and they become your best friends."
Windsor Police's new members face their first shift Sunday.