A team of police officers from Maine arrived in New Jersey Sunday to help law enforcement officers in that state maintain order in the wake of damage left by superstorm Sandy.

Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said 11 state troopers and four officers from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office left Portland Sunday morning in their cruisers for an eight-day deployment.

Additional Photos

A team of police officers prepares to leave Sunday morning from the Maine Turnpike Authority offices in South Portland for an eight-day deployment to New Jersey. They are to stay at the Fort Dix Army base and begin patrolling Monday after being sworn in as New Jersey law enforcement officers. Maine State Police photo

The team of volunteers was assembled over the past two days with support from the Maine Emergency Management Agency, which will cover the costs associated with sending such a large team south.

McCausland said the officers, who were joined by a team of police officers from Vermont, will be housed at the Fort Dix Army base.

They will begin their duties Monday after being sworn in as New Jersey law enforcement officers.

Sgt. James Ambrose of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office in an interview Sunday night from Fort Dix said their assignments could vary widely, from preventing looters from entering buildings whose alarms are not working and guarding gas stations – gasoline is being rationed – to givinga New Jersey police officers the time off they need to check on their own families or properties.

Ambrose, who responded to New Orleans after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, was accompanied by deputies David Dunnemann, Patrick Ferriter and Todd McGee.

“It was the right thing to do, to help our neighbors to the south,” said Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce.

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