Double trouble: Meet some of Newfoundland and Labrador's newest sheriff's officers
On Monday, 13 of Newfoundland and Labrador's newest sheriffs officers were sworn in at the Supreme Court building in St. John's, and this year's graduating class is a diverse one.
They will soon be stationed in courtrooms around the province, workplaces that can sometimes seem frightening and intimidating.
Some of those who received their badges at the ceremony have already worked in the military or policing, while others are just starting their first careers.
Tiffany Wall, the only female grad in the class, applied three times before finally making it into the sheriff's officer program.
"It is a very male-dominated role but these guys are one of the best groups of people I've ever worked with," she said after the ceremony.
"We got along so well; we never had any squabbles or anything. It was fantastic. And I like to say they were part of the gals."
More than just security
Wall said she's always wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement, and was attracted to the job of sheriff's officer because of the variety of roles involved with it.
"There are other aspects of our job that we do that people don't realize," she said. "We do ship arrests and on planes. We also do things like evictions, which is not the prettiest part of our job, but it's pretty serious."
Perry and Jeremy MacDonald are twins from Nova Scotia, but their family is from western Newfoundland. They decided to pursue a career with the sheriff's office in Newfoundland because they want to be closer to their Qalipu First Nations heritage.
"We did everything growing up together. When he went to school, I went to school with him," Perry said. "We both talked about it and agreed that we'd like to get in touch with our heritage and our roots."
Part of a bigger family
After 10 weeks of classes and and three weeks of on-the-job training, the two brothers are ready to jump into their careers — knowing they may turn some heads when people see two identical twins who are also wearing the same uniform.
"I'm sure we're going to hear 'double trouble' quite a bit but I think it's awesome," said Jeremy.
"At the end of the day he might be my twin but he's also one of my best friends and now he's an officer so now we're part of a bigger family."
Alex Magbanua was a police officer in the Philippines before moving to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 2014 to be with his wife.
He's been assigned to the court house in the community, and now is looking forward to getting back to Labrador to put his previous experience to work in his new role as a sheriff's officer.
"I like Canada, and I like the people in Goose Bay," he said. "They are nice. I like the culture."
