ROCKLAND — The Rockland Police Department has hired Addison Cox as a patrol officer, according to a press release from Sgt. Don Finnegan.

Cox is a native Mainer and following high school, he enlisted in the Unites States Marine Corps, serving in Romania and Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged following his four-year enlistment, with awards including the USMC’s Good Conduct Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. In his off-time, Cox spends time with his wife and their daughter, and also enjoys hunting and fishing.

Cox said that he wanted to be a police officer like his father. “I can remember as a kid, asking him if he had arrested anybody the night prior and thought the work that he did was the coolest thing in the world,” he said. “Eventually when I was old enough and able to do a ride along with him, I got to see my father arrest somebody for OUI and that pretty much sealed my fate.”

Cox said he had applied to a number of different police departments in the surrounding area. Three of those departments called me back, Rockland being one of them. “I decided to do a ride along. I ended up riding with Officer Andrew Redden and he pretty much convinced me to stick with Rockland Police as my main goal. Looking at the Rockland Police department, it was a perfect department for me,” Cox said.

Cox’s his most memorable experience was going through pepper spray training. “It's going to take a long time, if ever, for me to forget what that stuff feels like,” he said.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com