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MAYS LANDING - The Atlantic County Sheriff's Office is welcoming six new members to their department.
It was a joyous occasion for six new Sheriff's officers sworn in Tuesday afternoon.
But the journey has been unique for some of the new officers, including Jeffery Raine, who was still stationed in Afghanistan when he received his letter that he was eligible to apply.
"During that whole time I was in contact with the sheriff department, and they really wanted me to join," Raine said.
Raine, a Staff Sgt. from the New Jersey Air National Guard, was not scheduled to return state-side until February of this year, so in order to complete the process with all the necessary paperwork, he received a little help from home.
"During that whole time my wife helped me out a lot with the whole background investigation," Raine added. "I was very shocked at how quick the whole process went getting everything done."
But Raine wasn't the only recruit who served overseas that was waiting for their opportunity to move into law enforcement.
Former .50-caliber-gunner Danielle Torres served a year in Iraq in the US Army, so when her opportunity to become a sheriff came around, she was more than thrilled.
"I feel good about today. It's a stepping stone moving forward with my career," Torres said. "I've been trying to get further in my career in law enforcement for long time, my deployment just put me back a little bit."
But now these new recruits are moving forward, and there is only one more obstacle they're focused on.
"Just getting through the academy, and taking it day by day," Torres said.
"I'm pretty excited, we're about in our second week in our academy and I'm just excited for it to end," Raine added.
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