Sheriff's Office Employees Of The Quarter Honored

Date Added: April 12, 2016 3:33 pm

August 5, 2009
Brandon Haught
Public Information Office

Just another day on the job takes on a whole new meaning when the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Employees of the 2nd Quarter 2009 winners are hard at work. Their professionalism and expertise are prime examples of what makes the Sheriff’s Office a premier law enforcement organization in Florida. The five deputies and civilians honored by Sheriff Ben Johnson during a ceremony at the Deputy Stephen Saboda Training Center in Daytona Beach Wednesday morning. Awards were presented to a reserve deputy, an investigations unit supervisor, an office assistant, a telecommunicator, and a Citizen Observer Program volunteer.

Reserve Deputy Sheriff David Hinshaw’s primary duty is that of prisoner transport, but over time his previous full-time law enforcement career experience led him to greater responsibilities and the respect of his peers and supervisors. Hinshaw had retired from the Sheriff’s Office in 2003 at the rank of captain following a 28-year career, and recently returned to be a reserve deputy. The deputy of the quarter does all the personnel scheduling for his unit, which can sometimes be a monumental task. Reserve deputies typically have other full-time jobs and family obligations that make the task of scheduling their Sheriff’s Office duties challenging. However, Hinshaw is always up to the task and is able to develop solutions to make sure all shifts are covered. He handles all aspects of his job in the same manner by consistently having suggestions ready that invariably help solve any problems that crop up. 

“Dave is selfless in his approach to his job. He also is a voice of reason in difficult times and had a great deal of experience to lend that this agency should count its blessings to have,” said Hinshaw’s supervisor, Sgt. Joseph Bryant.

Investigator Sergeant Jimmie Carlisle is well known in his Deltona district office as a determined man who never hesitates to help out at any hour of the day on any task that arises. The investigator of the quarter volunteered to work in Deltona and was assigned to the property crimes section of the investigations unit. Carlisle created a new dynamic within that assignment, motivating his investigators and aggressively tracking down criminal activity. In addition to supervising, he carries his own case load and is known to doggedly stay on cases for months that seem highly unlikely to be solved, oftentimes surprising his fellow investigators with recovered property and arrested suspects. Carlisle takes a keen interest in all the activities in the district, which usually leads to valuable criminal activity information and the eventual solving of crimes.

“You’ve earned it,” said Sheriff Johnson. “Thank you for a job well done.”

Office assistant Carol Pendleton finds success in the details of her work in the DeBary district office. Every day she can be found updating property crimes maps, along with property and suspect databases. She then crosschecks that information in pawn shop databases and through this process finds stolen property that investigators then recover. Her attention to detail and determination have revealed stolen items in pawn shop databases that even automated systems miss. Additionally, Pendleton’s previous experience in the Technical Services unit, where she did fingerprinting, is a wealth of knowledge to district deputies. She reviews and evaluates some of the latent prints that deputies recover in the field, and when necessary, offers them suggestions for improvement. She also processes requests for fingerprints from the public, saving them the long drive to Daytona Beach they would have to otherwise take.

“Without a doubt, Mrs. Pendleton is a truly invaluable asset to the District 6 family, as well as to the entire Sheriff’s Office, and she is truly deserving of this recognition,” said Sgt. Ted Richard in his letter nominating Pendleton for the award.

Telecommunicator of the quarter honors went to Craig Kenyon, who was rewarded for volunteering to train new telecommunicators while at the same time exhibiting his superb ability to handle important calls under stressful conditions. One particular incident in June resulted in Kenyon calmly and professionally talking a mentally unstable subject into unarming himself and turning himself in to waiting law enforcement units. Later, the sergeant who had been on scene called the communications center to complement Kenyon on the great job he did. During the busiest times, Kenyon can be counted on to be a major team player and he is always willing to do what is needed to get the job done.

“You exemplify what telecommunicators are,” said Sheriff Johnson. “What a great job you all do.”

Volunteer of the quarter Michael Burda has been in the Citizen Observer Program since 2001, and has earned a reputation as a loyal, dependable person in the New Smyrna Beach area where he volunteers. Besides patrolling at least twice weekly, he also is a COP supervisor and one of the most reliable person to call upon when needed. Burda put in a multitude of hours during the most recent fire season and attended every Sheriff’s Office 100 Deputies/100 Kids charity function in the district. Burda especially doesn’t let personal or health issues get in the way of his volunteer duties.

“We couldn’t do it without you,” said Sheriff Johnson. “Your service gets more and more important all the time.”