Windsor police have officially welcomed five new members to the service.
The new police officers were honoured at ceremony Thursday night.
The event saw the new members receive their service badge and praise from their superiors.
Chief Al Frederick says out of hundreds of applicants who applied to the Windsor Police Service, these ones are the best of the group.
He says he has some advice for the young recruits.
"Our job becomes 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 his life about that interaction."
He says becoming a police officer takes a lifetime to achieve.
"Before we offer them a job as a cadet, it takes about nine months," says Frederick. "That is including all of the interviews, the physical fitness test, the medicals, all the background checks about nine months. Then once they are hired six or seven months as a cadet and then to the Ontario Police College, so this group here has been with us close to a year and a half already."
The new members face their first shift Sunday.