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Former Lost Boy of Sudan becomes Atlanta cop

Officer Jacob Mach was one of 20,000 boys who were displaced or orphaned during a Sudanese civil war

By Police1 Staff

ATLANTA — Jacob Mach came from a lawless country, and is now working to keep order in Atlanta as a police officer.

Mach, a former Lost Boy of Sudan, was one of 20,000 boys who were displaced or orphaned during a Sudanese Civil War, WSBTV reported. In 2001, he was granted refugee status and came to America with only a change of clothes and a three-month guarantee of government support, according to the New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/100000002567769/the-trials-of-jacob-mach.html?src=vidm

He worked various jobs from unpacking grocery produce to working night shift at a hotel in order to bring his wife from Kenya. They had a son and Mach realized his dream of becoming a police officer.

When Mach was hired by the Atlanta Police Department in 2012, he initially didn’t pass training, the New York Times reported.

After a long journey, Mach was sworn in as an Atlanta police officer Wednesday.

His son joined him in celebrating his first day on the job.

https://twitter.com/Atlanta_Police/status/831839914262138880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw